Realistic Fiction
by Ookami Aya
Summary: Extremely unoriginal circumstances find me face to face with one Minamino Shuichi. A YYH fan's dream come true... except for the severe lack of special powers and Kurama lovin'. Man, why'd they have to go and be in character?
1. Prologuey Goodness

A/N: Okay, this is Realistic Fiction. The same story. It got removed again, so I've created a new account! Wootness! Now, with a new account, it may throw the bastard off.

Thouroughly revised, by the way. Very thouroughly.

Each and every review gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling, even if you have nothing to say other than, "I read it," or, "It's okay," or even, "This is just stupid." Just let me know, every chapter. Am I begging? Yes. The over fifty reviews I originally got for this fic only made me appreciate them more.

* * *

Prologue-y Goodness.

I was grinning ear to ear. Metaphorically, that is. I don't think my mouth can stretch that far... but that's beside the point. What I'm trying to get at here is that I was very, very happy.

Now, at this point, I can only assume that you're wondering why it is that I was so happy. The answer is: Aya-chan was going to Japan! Well, actually, I was already there, which made it even better. I was only in my sophomore year, yet there I was, among the exchange students. I had learned Japanese exceptionally quickly; I had been teaching myself outside of school as well, after all, and had been wanting to learn the language for over two years by the time I enrolled in high school.

My efforts had finally paid off, though it had previously merely been a fantastic dream of mine to go to Japan. I got lucky.

I suddenly laughed, causing everyone except my fellow Americans to stare. My classmates had, after all, long since gotten used to me. To be completely honest, people had been staring long before I laughed. It probably had something to do with my happy dance. Looking back, it's a wonder I managed to hop around in circles swinging my arms, considering the 82-pound luggage I was carrying. I must say, it wasn't my best performance, but amazing, nonetheless.

As I started to feel dizzy, I came to the conclusion that it would be a good time to stop "dancing" and ask the question that had been plaguing my mind for the past ten minutes or so, ever since we got off the plane. Brushing my wavy, dark brown hair off my face for the millionth time, I strolled over to our Japanese supervisor, as our American one had long since wandered off in search of a restroom. "Excuse me, sir," I politely said in his native language.

The middle-aged man looked at me, startled that I was suddenly so calm. "Oh. Ano, yes?"

"When might the superintendent from the school arrive?"

"Any minute now, Miss."

"Oh." I was silent for a moment or two, then, "What school will we be attending, anyway?"

"Meiou Academy."

I frowned, and asked without thinking, "Is that not a private school?"

He looked startled again, then smiled. "I'm surprised you knew. Yes, its full name is Meiou Private Academy. We started the exchange program with your school a few years ago, because all the public schools in the area already had an arrangement with a school in America. Your school asked us if we wanted to give it a try."

"Oh," I repeated. "(Well, this is certainly an interesting development. I had no idea it was a real school,)" I muttered in English.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." I shrugged, smiled at the supervisor, and wandered back to the cluster of benches my classmates had claimed. I sat on the end of a bench at the edge of the group, setting my luggage beside me, and I got that far-off look I sometimes get when I'm feeling reserved. Most people assume I'm thinking deeply about something. This is occasionally true, but usually, I'm really just daydreaming, or not thinking about much of anything at all, which was currently the case. I didn't trust myself to start daydreaming; not now, when I had just found out that I would be going to the same school as the _fictional_ Kurama.

"Ah! Finally!" I heard the supervisor say a few minutes later. I looked up. Another man was walking towards him with a group of about fifteen people following behind.

"Sorry I took so long, but you know how it is."

"With last-minute changes, courtesy of our principal?"

"No, with last-minute drill sessions, courtesy of my wife." The two men laughed together at what I assumed to be an inside joke because it wasn't very funny, then approached the seven of us. "Hello, nice to meet you all! These kind people, all with children of their own in Meiou Academy, have volunteered to house you kids during your stay in Japan. Now, listen closely as I read off your names, because it's more than likely that I'll mispronounce at least a few of them, okay? Good." One by one, we were introduced to our temporary caretakers.

Mine was the fifth name called. I walked towards the kind looking woman and man that looked like his name should be Ted that waved at me. I bowed when I reached them. "Nice to meet you."

They bowed in return. "Hello, nice to meet you, too, ah..." The woman frowned, trying to remember my name.

I giggled. "Please, call me Aya."

The both looked relieved. "Well, Aya-san," said the woman, "You may call me Shiori, and this is my husband..." She told me his name, but I could never remember it, and I still don't. To me, he has always been Ted. I really don't know why...

* * *

The car ride back to their house was uneventful, so I'll skip that. 

Actually, no, I won't, because that would just be one of those random scene changes that I try to avoid.

We got in the car. It was white. I sat all by my lonesome in the back. Ted drove. We were in the car for a while. We pulled into a driveway in front of a house and stopped. We got out of the car. We walked to the front door. Someone opened the front door. We entered the house with the driveway with the car that was white in which I had sat all by my lonesome in the back while Ted drove to the house.

There.

* * *

"Shuichi! Shuichi! We're back!" 

At the sound of Shiori's voice, two boys looked up; one from the TV, the other from a book.

I tried very hard not to notice how gorgeous the latter was.

"Hey! It's a girl!" said the one that had previously been watching TV. "...I don't know whether to be happy or disappointed."

"Shuichi! Manners!" reprehended the man I thought of as Ted. Shuichi grinned apologetically, then went back to the TV. Okay, so that one was pretty much a typical preteen boy. I smiled slightly, then looked back to where the other boy was sitting... had been sitting... he wasn't there anymore...

Oh, there he was. Right in front of me. Perhaps I should have noticed him there earlier. He bowed, a light smile gracing his already alluring features. "Pleasure to meet you. I am Shuichi."

I smiled and bowed in return. "Nice to meet you, Shuichi. I am Aya." At such close proximity, I had a little more difficulty in ignoring his good looks. Suddenly I frowned. "Wait a second- I thought _he_ was Shuichi," I said, throwing a pointed glance in Typical Preteen Boy Shuichi's direction.

Gorgeous Shuichi in front of me appeared to be somewhere in between amused and apologetic as Preteen Shuichi snickered. "Yes, well... he is," confirmed Gorgeous Shuichi. "It might be a little confusing."

I laughed. "Is okay. I'm used to being confused."

Shiori smiled. "Well, now that we've all been introduced, Shuichi, dear, why don't you show Aya to her room?"

"Yes, mother. This way, Aya," said Gorgeous Shuichi. Typical Boy Shuichi seemed to have forgotten about me and was fully reabsorbed into Dragon Ball Z.

As we reached the stairs in the other room, Gorgeous Shuichi eyed my luggage. "Do you want me to help you carry that...?"

I beamed. "No, I am okay!"

He looked doubtful. "Are you sure? That luggage looks to weigh as much as you do."

"Oh, it does not," I said, starting my ascent. "Weighs 23 pounds less." Take note that I was still not used to using the metric system so much. Also take note that the above was a true statement. I had done the math in my head, after all. (Really.)

"I see..." I could practically visualize a large sweatdrop forming on his forehead.

After what seemed like ages but was actually probably only about a minute and a half, we reached the top and Gorgeous led me down a short hall, then pointed out a door to me. "In there. That will be your room."

"Thank you." I opened the door with my toe and entered. There was a bed, a closet, a desk and chair, and a bedside table. Basically, it was a typical bedroom, just as typical as the preteen boy downstairs watching DBZ. I proceeded to drop everything on the floor in the middle of the room and sat down on the bed. "Nee, Aya's sleepy."

Gorgeous Shuichi smiled from the doorway. It occurred to me that he had been smiling in his polite and empty way the entire time. "Jet lag?"

"Yeah." I paused for a moment, thinking. Well, pretending to think, anyway. "Ne, Shuichi-san?"

"Yes, Aya?" I felt a little lightheaded.

"Do you mind if I give you a nickname? To prevent confusion?"

"Alright."

"Hm." I yawned. "How about Kitsune?"

"Kitsune?" The smile disappeared for a fraction of a second. One would only notice had they been looking for it, and I had been. I saw it, clearly, like a big, flashing, bright red warning sign against a gray background. And, as I had suspected, he regained his composure quickly. "Why Kitsune?"

I waved my hand vaguely. "I do not know. There is just something about you that screams 'fox.'" I suppressed a smirk. "You seem surprised."

"I... have a friend that calls me that." Also as I had predicted, he had not tried to deny that he was surprised. Apparently he realized that if I had seen it, pretending I was imagining things would only lead to suspicion, and I had a 'feeling' that a nosy, foreign female was the last thing he wanted to worry about at the moment.

"Mm." I yawned again. "Well, I'm going to take a nap."

Gorgeous nodded. "Someone will wake you up for dinner."

"Thank you."

With that, he closed the door, I assume he walked away, and I fell asleep.

* * *

"Oi." 

I ignored Typical Boy Shuichi's not-exactly-polite voice.

"Oi, Aya."

I rolled over.

"Aya?"

I covered my head with my pillow.

"Oi, wake up."

"...Mm..."

"Aya, wake up!"

"...Dun wanna..."

A frustrated Typical growled slightly. "Get up!"

"...Nee, Aya's sleepy..."

He sighed. "I don't care. Shiori-san sent me up here to get you, and I'm not going back down without you."

"...Mm... five more minutes... school isn't for another twelve hours..."

"This isn't for school, it's for dinner!"

I sat up. "Dinner?"

Typical rolled his eyes. "Yeah, dinner. Are you getting up, or what?"

"Yeah, I'm getting up!" I stood up and stretched a little.

"Good, now come on. Shiori-san's gonna be wondering why I'm taking so long."

I ran my fingers through my hair as I followed him. "You call her Shiori-san? Is she not your mother?"

"Stepmother. My dad remarried last year."

"Oh. So is the kitsune Shiori-san's son, then?

"Yeah." He paused. "Wait, who's the kitsune?"

I laughed, now wide awake. "Your stepbrother's new nickname."

"...Okay then..."

I followed him downstairs, thinking to myself how this random, pointless little scene here is mostly filler. Then I wondered to myself what the hell I was thinking about. It's not like this is a _fanfiction_, or anything. Gosh, no.


	2. Any Questions?

Any Questions?

The first week of school in Japan was uneventful, if you don't count the death glares I received, courtesy of a certain Kitsune's fan club. I actually considered joining it one day, simply to freak him out, but I knew the company would drive me crazy. Unlike his fans back home, these girls were preps, and though I got along with preps just as well as I got along with everyone else, I wasn't exactly overly fond of them. To put it bluntly, most of them made a habit of grating my nerves.

The boy I had mentally dubbed Gorgeous was mysterious as always. His brother, mentally dubbed Preteen, remained as I had first met him, too. Shiori and Ted, as I knew they would be from the start, were two of the nicest people I had ever met, though a little dull. Don't get me wrong- I still liked them. They were practically like an aunt and uncle to me.

Saturday afternoon (I had arrived the previous Sunday), I decided to do something different with my spare time. Until then, I had spent it as I normally would- I read the manga I had packed, surfed the net, wrote short stories, drew, played on my Gamecube from back home, watched anime with Preteen... You know, the works. But today would be different. Today, I would actually venture out of the house... to the arcade.

Of course, I had to get there first, and my directional skills were somewhat... lacking, to say the least. I could have asked one of the Shuichi boys, but... I wanted to have an adventure! ...Of sorts. So, I set off on a journey that would, with any luck, end at the arcade. Needless to say, there was a lot of wandering around involved.

Eventually, by sheer luck, also known as "skill" if anyone asked, I found it. It was a lot bigger than I had expected, but hey. Who's to complain? Anyway, I walked in, a triumphant grin on my face. Heck, I didn't even walk; I _sashayed_ through the double doors, as if I owned the place.

I was completely ignored.

That didn't faze me, though. I strolled through the rows of video games, looking for something I liked. Oh, **hell** no, **not** Dance Dance Revolution. I got enough of that from a friend of mine in America, and no matter how much she forced me to play, I still sucked. Miserably. I walked on. Hm, that one looked promising... I fished around in my pocket for the money I had brought with me. I hadn't spent much money for four and a half months, and my allowance, along with money earned from odd jobs, had been adding up, so that when I got it exchanged for yen... I had a fair amount of spending money. ¥100? No problemo, Mister Memo. (Huh? I don't know, etiher.)

About fifteen minutes later, a small crowd had congregated around me. Oh, yeah. Who's the master? I'm the master. Oh yeah...

A loud, obnoxious voice distracted me, but I managed to recover long enough to KO my opponent. "Oi! Watch out, comin' through! **Oi!** I said **move** it!" The crowd parted and I turned around to see what was causing the commotion, leaning against the machine. It didn't take long to find it, considering it walked right up to me and glared at me indignantly. "Okay, you, a little bird came and told me you were trying to take **my** place at the top of the High Scores list!"

I let my face nor my voice betray no emotion. "Birds these days. Such gossips."

The jell-haired punk had apparently noticed my accent. "A foreigner, eh? Thought you could just waltz in from wherever-you're-from and steal my title?"

I shrugged. "It appears so."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"Oh, no. Of course not. I have much more to say.

"Then spill!"

"I am afraid I cannot. They don't teach many of the words I would use in school." At this, the crowd collectively gasped, kind of like sheep, except they were people, and sheep don't gasp, anyway.

"Okay, that's it! You're going down!"

I smiled. It was not a nervous grin, nor a cocky smirk at all- it was just a smile, not at all dissimilar to the one I had seen Gorgeous use so many times. It was a smile that had freaked out whoever I used it on for years. It was a smile with no meaning; and that blankness, that emptiness, was what successfully sent shivers down the spines of nearly anyone to be on the receiving end of it.

"Are you challenging me, then?"

The boy was only half affected, at most. "No shit, Sherlock!"

I stepped aside, gesturing to the second controller. "Go ahead. But you pay."

"What? Why me?"

"I am nearly out of money," I lied smoothly. "Besides, I do not know about Japan, but in America, it is custom for the challenger to pay."

"But **you're** the one challenging **my** title!"

"But it is you that came to me."

He grumbled. "Fine, I'll pay. But I get the first controller!"

I shrugged and moved to the other side. "Whatever happened to 'ladies first'?"

"I see no 'ladies' here," he grumbled.

The surprise was evident on his face when I laughed outright.

* * *

Thirty-two minutes and nine rounds later, my opponent was on the verge of banging his head against the machine. "One more game!" 

I sighed. My initial amusement was beginning to give way to annoyance. "No. That is all I am willing to play for today." I picked up my backpack and started to walk away... rather quickly, might I add.

"Oh, no you don't!" growled Punk, as I so affectionately called him, following me. "We're gonna finish what we started!"

I rolled my eyes and stopped a bit outside the . "It was finished in the fifth round. Besides, have you even got any money left?"

The boy blinked, then glared at me as we came out the front doors. "No."

"Well, there you have it, then." I was about to start down the sidewalk when I realized I had no idea where I was. "Kuso."

He raised an eyebrow, his voice suddenly calm. "Okay, I'm pretty sure they don't teach cuss words in school."

"You are correct. I picked that up off the Internet."

He shrugged. "Well, what's so 'kuso', anyway?"

"The route home seems to have escaped me."

"Lost, huh?"

I scowled. "Lost? I am not lost. I am never lost. It is the rest of the world that is hopelessly confused."

Punk laughed. "Oh, did you think that one up yourself, or did you get it out of a book?"

"A book, actually."

He nodded. We stood there for a moment.

"Um... Punk?"

"What? That's not my name, you know."

"Well, you have not told me your name."

"You mean you don't know me?" Punk looked incredulous. "Everybody around here knows me. How long have you been in Japan, anyway?"

"Week."

"Oh. That explains it, I guess." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Come to think of it, it's kinda nice to meet someone that isn't afraid of me. Change of pace, y'know? I'm Urameshi Yusuke, toughest punk around."

Had I been walking, I would have stopped in my tracks. "Do you, by any chance, know a boy called Kuwabara Kazuma?"

"Yeah, second toughest punk around. Why? You heard of us?"

"...You could say that..." I frowned for a moment, then grinned. This could actually work to my advantage. I could always check out the other stuff later. "Hey, do you know this other boy, Minamino Shuichi?"

He gave me an odd look. "Yeah, actually. I can understand the Kuwabara thing, but how'd you know about K- Shuichi? Most people around here don't associate me with him."

"Ano, magic?"

"Oh, sure," came his sarcastic reply.

"But that is not the the point! I am staying at his house for the student exchange program!"

Yusuke looked thoughtful for a moment, then smirked. "So, he's got an unrelated girl living in his house, now, does he?"

I cocked my head to one side like a puppy. "Yes..." I pretended I had no idea what he was thinking... but I did. Darn him.

He laughed and shook his head. "So I'm guessing you're wondering if I know where he lives."

"Yes!"

"Well, you're in luck. I can take you there, but it'll be a walk. How long did it take you to get here?"

"An hour or so."

"I can probably get you there in about fifteen minutes."

"Really?"

"Sure."

"Yatta!" I then preformed the patented Pose of the Giddy Female, which consists of standing on one foot, on your toes, with the other foot in the air behind you, with your arms together up against your chest, and your hands either clapping baby claps or in fists. This Pose is usually accompanied by an overly girlish giggle.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh, you're embarrassing me here."

"Sorry." I giggled again.

"Come on, then. Let's go."

* * *

We actually ran into Gorgeous about two-thirds of the way there. I giggled, yet again, and waved when I saw him. "Oi! Kitsune-san!" 

Yusuke's eyebrows shot up when he heard the 'kitsune,' and Gorgeous came over to where we were standing. "There you are! I was beginning to wonder where you had gotten off to."

"I am sorry." I bowed my head in shame, but the effect was kind of ruined when I giggled for the millionth time that day.

"So, Kitsune, how did you get this nickname?"

Shuichi seemed to notice Yusuke for the first time. "Ah, Yusuke. I see you've met Aya."

"Answer me, Kitsune."

"I don't know, actually. She sporadically decided to call me that the day she arrived."

They both looked at me suspiciously. I beamed innocently back at them.

"Well, whatever," was Punk's ingenious conclusion. "Now that you're here, I can get this directionally challenged nut case off my hands."

"Now, Yusuke, I wouldn't call her a nut case..."

"I would!" I said. The boys sweatdropped. "Oh, now that you are both here together, I must ask you something that I have been wondering about since I learned Yusuke's name."

The aforementioned Yusuke gave me an odd look as Kitsune politely replied, "Yes?"

"Do you two know a Hiei? Jaganshi Hiei, I think his name is?" I tried and failed to suppress an evil smirk at their expressions.

"What!"

"Ah..."

"Come to think of it, I do not suppose he would have any records... in this world, anyway," I added pointedly, my smirk growing. "Because, you know, the Hiei I am thinking of has never technically been born."

Yusuke was clearly getting extremely suspicious. "How do you-"

"Yes, we do, actually," interrupted 'Shuichi,' "and at the moment, I do believe he's in that tree over there. Come here, Hiei."

The tree remained stubbornly silent.

"Hiei, get over here!" Yusuke gently persuaded.

"Hiei, this girl seems to know things she shouldn't. She may know more, and that could get all of us into trouble."

A dark figure jumped out of the tree and landed in front of the the boy that I was now having a hard time not calling 'Kurama'.

"Hn," was all he said. I really don't have to describe what he looked like, do I? If I do, that's just sad.

"Right," said Shuichi. "Now perhaps we should go to a more secluded area to discuss this."

"Conveniently placed alley sound good to you?" suggested Yusuke.

Hiei didn't respond, Kitsune nodded, and I shrugged.

We walked in silence as the Punk led us to a conveniently placed ally. I leaned against a brick wall as the other three stood across from me. Hiei was glaring, no big surprise there; Yusuke was somewhere in between a glare and a confused stare, and Gorgeous was giving me a hard, level, business-like stare. If I was the type to ever feel uncomfortable for reasons other than missing articles of clothing, I would have been nervously shifting my weight from foot to foot. My smile was fading into a slight grimace.

"So," I said finally, looking at Shuichi, "May I just call you Kurama now?"

The three exchanged a glance, and Kurama nodded.

"Girl," said Hiei, addressing me ever so politely, "Who exactly are you, and how do you know of us?"

"One question at a time, please. As for the first, I am exactly who I appear to be. I am Aya, human, as far as I know. I am completely harmless; the only fighting I know how to do is in video games, and I know how to hold my tongue, so I am no threat to you. As for the second... well... that might be a little harder to answer."

"Perhaps you should just tell us how much you know, to begin with," said Kurama.

"Quite a bit, if I am not mistaken. From the time Yusuke died up through the dark tournament, some of the dealings with Sensui, and bits and pieces of information after that, such as Yusuke's heritage. And I am aware of Hiei's family situation, but don't worry; as I said before, I know how to hold my tongue."

I half expected them to suddenly crack up, and explain that it was all an elaborate prank, but their expressions remained serious. Even though the other half of me had been expecting that from the beginning, I was still unprepared for the full gravity of the situation.

I groaned. "Please tell me that this is all a joke." They shook their heads.

"And how do you know all this?" asked Hiei slowly.

I put a hand to my forehead. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Anime."

"What?" yelled Yusuke.

"And manga. Called Yu Yu Hakusho. One of my favorites, actually."

"You're right. I don't believe you."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I could feel a migraine coming on. "Look, I have got a couple of the novels back at Shuichi's house, okay? I can show them to you, but they are in English."

"Perhaps that would be a good idea," agreed Kurama.

* * *

"Mother," called the Kitsune as he opened the door, "I have some friends with me. Is that alright?" 

"That's fine, Shuichi, dear," came Shiori's voice from the kitchen. Kurama nodded and beckoned for Hiei and Yusuke to come in to the living room. Even more conveniently than the ally, Preteen Shuichi had chosen this evening to go out with his friends.

I ran my fingers through my hair almost nervously. "Stay here. I will go up and get them." Kurama nodded and sat down, Yusuke shrugged and made himself comfortable on the couch, and Hiei showed no sign that he had heard me.

I went upstairs to my room and pulled a duffel bag out from under the bed. After a couple seconds of trying to decide which one to show, I growled and carried the whole thing back down to where the boys were.

I gently set the bag on the floor with a loud thump. "Meet my manga collection. I figured it would be easier to bring the whole thing down than to try to carry only the Yu Yu Hakusho books."

Kitsune sweatdropped. "So, 25 percent of that luggage was manga?"

"Yeah. I could only bring about half of it, though. My mother said it would be impractical to try to bring them all to Japan, so I just brought my favorites."

"I see..."

"Here," I said, pulling out volume one. I flipped through it slowly, stopping at various pages to point things out. "Okay. Here, Yusuke is introduced. Here he is being dead. Here he is being a punk. Here he is being a ghost. Here is Botan's first appearance. Here, Yusuke finds out that his death was pointless. Here is Koenma's first appearance. Here, Yusuke is talking to Keiko through a dream. Yusuke... ano, word... um, goes into Kuwabara? Stuff happens. Yusuke comes back for a day." I put the book down and picked up number two. "Yusuke has some more adventures while being dead. Keiko saves Yusuke from the fire, and the favor is returned, courtesy of his egg thing. Yusuke 'goes into' someone else. Koenma arrives at the shocking conclusion that he acts entirely without thinking. Here, he... comes back. And on to book three... Here he catches his first criminal. Here he learns to use the Spirit Gun. Here, we meet Kurama, Hiei, and Gouki." I giggled. "Hiei talks about perpetuating some delicious nastiness in the human world, which never ceases to amuse me. Here, Gouki is being an asshole. Yusuke beats him up. Here, the whole deal with Kurama is explained. Here is Yusuke's fight with Hiei, and here is Hiei looking far, far too happy. I think you get the idea. Here is the rest that have been translated," I concluded, placing several volumes on the table. "Any questions?"

Yusuke's eye twitched. He was wearing the ultimate expression of confusion.

Hiei was glaring at the stack of books on the table as if they would bite him. Yes, Hiei. Better keep a sharp eye on them. The manga might attack at any moment.

Kurama looked vaguely overwhelmed. "No, no... I think that about covers it..."

"The question is," Hiei turned his glare back to me, "how does this... Yoshihiro Togashi person... know about us, and how has he managed to keep it from us?"

"I honestly have no idea," I said. "Well, actually, I have a vague theory, but it is very hard to explain, especially in Japanese."

"Try anyway."

"Well... It involves, ano, different... levels of being? Ah..."

"Dimension?" offered Kurama.

"...Yeah... I guess... Okay, my theory is that for everything imaginable, there is its own dimension. For example, to start small," I held up my arm, "I could move my arm either to the left or the right. Correct? Here, I move it to the left. Somewhere, on a different level of reality, however, I move it right. I just created a new dimension. I could have moved my other arm as well, but I did not. So, even by not doing anything, I have created yet another dimension. And when I **didn't** move my arm, someone else might have, creating **another** dimension. Therefore, the dimensions are, ano, without end."

"Infinite?"

"...I will assume that is the correct word. Thank you. They are infinite. For everything that can be imagined and every combination of everything, there is a new dimension, and because imagination is infinite, so are dimensions. If, somehow, they were all placed in a circle, and someone set out in one direction to pass through them all, he would never arrive back home again unless he turned around. I do not think that the human mind can fully imagine what is infinite, therefore there are also dimensions for what we do not, or cannot, think of. Understand?"

"No," said Yusuke.

Hiei said nothing.

"To some extent," said Kurama. "I think I get the general concept."

"Yeah. Yusuke, if you do not understand, please do not try to, because it might make your head hurt."

"Hey!"

"No, I mean it. It gave me a mild headache, and I was thinking about it for hours over many nights when I could not sleep."

"...That's what you think about at night?"

"Yes. In relation to this... situation?... it could be that somehow, one of the worlds in which you all live somehow overlapped with one of the worlds in which you all are not real." I shrugged. "Or, maybe Koenma was just being very strange one day." If we had been in an anime, the boys would have facefaulted. Oh, wait! We ARE in an anime! The boys facefaulted.

* * *

A/N: This was a boring chapter, but it's necessary, because if it wasn't here, by the next chapter, everyone would be like, "Wait, what?" 

I'm only going to do review responses that I feel concern other readers.

**Sapphire Angel:** "Not allowed: interactive, chat/script, real person, mst, and ect." On the guidelines page that I can no longer access for some reason, they specifically said that "real person" refered to actors and singers and people like that. Thing is, doesn't check the claims before deleting. This essentially gives any and every reader power over any and every author, actual rule-breaking not required.

**Anqui: **Yeah, I remember you, but I've forgotten the name, too... it's probably a conspiracy.

Anyway, Aya might have been predicting "Shuichi" a little too much, but as you said, there's that handy-dandy added boost. I won't be doing any more predicting that I can think of off the top of my head, though, so don't worry about that.

Aya is me, the whole me, and nothing but me. As an author, I'd like to change some aspects of her personality to make her more interesting or believable, but that would undermine the whole point of keeping everyone, including myself, entirely in character. Some bits of me may make me a little boring as a character, but they're real, they're there, and that's just the way it is.

Gamble, gamble. Yes, Aya does gamble, to some extent, but not if there's a lot of risk involved. My general outlook on stuff is, "What's the worst that could happen?" If the worst is really bad, I'm not likely to do it, but sometimes I'll get inexplicably bold-ish... for me, anyway.

Don't ask about instincts, because I don't know, either. Mine are unreliable and make very little sense. Again, that's just the way it is, oddly enough.

Hmm, turbulance... I suppose you could call it that... heheheh. The first couple chapters will be fairly easy for Aya, but as the story goes on, she'll find herself falling into a plot (of sorts), and plots can be dangerous things for a character. Starting in chapter four, I think, Aya starts to get in over her head. The thing about holes is, if you're in one, stop digging. I'm not sure why, but I've never been very good at puting down the shovel. It's a bit of a problem, especially when one is hanging out in an action/adventure anime.

You know laugh tracks? Someone should invent evil laughter tracks. It feels rather odd, being mean to oneself like this...

In short, there will be turbulance. Trust me on this one.


	3. Mental Stability or lack thereof

Mental Stability

(or lack thereof)

I hummed to myself as I ate, swinging my legs. It was lunchtime, and I was currently on the roof of the school. Another week had passed and things were going pretty smoothly. Life at the Minamino residence was the same as before. I was meeting Yusuke every other day at the arcade. (Well, actually, I met him outside Meiou Academy, because he didn't trust me to find my way to the arcade by myself.) In this way, I also met Kuwabara. I didn't see Hiei much, though I checked the comfy-looking trees, anyway.

Mmm. Yummy.

"Aya?"

"**Yaah!**" Even though I was sitting down, I somehow managed to jump about a foot in the air. Holding my chest and the remainder of my food in a vice-like grip, I tried to calm my suddenly rapid heart rate and turned around to glare at the offender. "Do not do that!"

Kurama smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Meh. Well, what did you want?"

"I was looking for you, that's all. You're not supposed to be up here."

"But it is lunchtime! And I like it up here!" I whined.

"I understand that, but Takashi-sensei will not pleased if he catches you."

"Bah," I huffed. "Takashi-sensei can just screw himself, for all I care."

He laughed lightly. "I think you've been spending too much time around Yusuke."

"What makes you say that?"

"I somehow doubt they teach you how to say that sort of thing in school."

"Well, they should." I beamed at him. "Yusuke has been an excellent teacher. I have greatly increased my Japanese vocabulary in the way of slang, insults, and swear words."

"I can't say I'm surprised. Anyway, lunch period is over. You have about five minutes to get to your next class. Yusuke hasn't taught you to cut classes, too, has he?"

I laughed. "No. Give me a minute; I'll be down as soon as I finish my desert. After all, chocolate always comes before education, ne?"

"Just don't be late- again. As much as the teachers like you, you're on thin ice with your frequent tardiness." With that, Kurama disappeared into the building. I nodded and bit into my precious candy bar. It was really a lovely day. The sun was out, the sky was a beautiful hue of blue, with white, puffy clouds here and there, the flowers were blooming, the birds were singing... Wait. No they weren't.

"Where are the birdies?" I wondered aloud.

"Oh, I scared them away," came a female voice behind me. I jumped again, this time nearly falling off the edge of the roof. "It was fun."

"Jeez, what is it with people sneaking up on me today?" I whirled around to glare at whoever it was that had startled me, getting a good look at her in the process. She was small, perhaps around 4'8", with short, purple hair and a pale complexion. Her eyes were a startling tint of violet, which, in contrast with her considerably darker hair, appeared almost white. She wore a purple yukata with a paler, lavender obi, and traditional Japanese sandals. She appeared to be physically fully mature, but face held childlike innocence... of sorts. "Who are you, anyway?"

The girl flashed a winning smile. "I am Misako, the demon witch, more commonly known as Misako the Purple. And I have come to kidnap you."

"What...?"

Before I could object, she cackled and took my hand. There was a puff of- you guessed it- purple smoke. I coughed. Eventually the smoke cleared, and I looked around. We weren't on the roof of the school anymore. In fact, we were in a rather cozy-looking living room; the sort of room that one might expect to find in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. One wall was composed almost entirely of full-length windows, and gave a nice view of a pretty little garden outside. It would have looked like it came out of a magazine as well if it hadn't been for the pink sky and jagged red things that I could only assume to be deformed clouds.

"Admiring my garden?" came a voice from my shoulder.

"Eh?" I turned to look at Misako the Purple, who was beaming at the world in general. "Actually, I was admiring the sky."

"Ah, yes. Lovely, isn't it?" Misako looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook her head like people sometimes do when returning to reality. "Anyway. Yeah, I have now kidnapped you."

"May I ask why?"

She shrugged. "I was bored."

I half-facefaulted. "Bored?"

"Well, yeah. Besides, I haven't caused any trouble for the past four years or so, and we can't have Koenma getting relaxed, now can we?"

"Causing trouble is your favorite pastime?"

"Yeah."

"Then why have you not caused trouble in a while?" What? It's a valid question.

She scratched the back of her neck. "I was sleeping. Hibernating, you might say."

"Oh? Long sleep, ne? Did you not get hungry?"

"Oh, I got up once a month or so and spent a day eating. Then I don't have to sleep at all for a long while."

"...That sounds nice."

"It is. But, alas, one can only sleep for so long without getting somewhat restless, ne? Get it? Restless? While asleep?" She chuckled at her own joke.

"True enough," I agreed, smiling to acknowledge the pun.

"Anyway," she said, clapping her hands once, "now I have to reveal my diabolical plot. I just woke up about a month ago, and the first thing I heard about was the new Spirit Detectives. And I thought, _'Woohoo! This is great! The new Reikai Tantei would be the perfect target for my pranks! The last one had no sense of humor.'_ And there you have it. So, I decided to kidnap someone that each of the Tantei care about, and have them come to the rescue! Great, huh?"

"I guess... Who else did you kidnap?"

"Yusuke's girlfriend, Kuwabara's cat, and that cute little koorime girl. She's a sweetie."

"So, I am the bait for Kurama?"

"Yup."

"Why not his mother, or his stepbrother? They are who most people would go for."

"Exactly. It's just unoriginal. That, and you were convenient, sitting up there all alone on the roof, and all."

"I see."

"So!" The little demon witch clapped her hands again and looked at me. "Time to take you to the other prisoners, ne?"

"Alright. I have been wanting to meet them for a while now," I admitted.

She beamed at me. "Gosh, you're even more agreeable than that cute little Koorime."

"I do try."

She led we through an innocent-looking door on the wall opposite the windows and into another... room, if you can call it that.

I looked around. "I didn't know you had an actual dungeon."

"Well, you can't go around having diabolical plots without having a dungeon."

"True." It was a large, black room with a high ceiling and a dirty stone floor, bits of straw lying here and there. On the far wall, where Keiko and Yukina and were sitting and playing with Eikichi, were some of those metal handcuff-like things. Basically, it was the sort of place from which the gallant hero would rescue a damsel in distress or two. Or, in this case, three damsels that aren't really very distressed and a kitten.

I followed as Misako jogged over to the aforementioned damsels and kitten. "Right-o! Now that you're all here together, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to chain you up."

"What? Why?" demanded Keiko.

"The look of the thing. I mean, I can't have the heroes walk in to find the damsels in distress sitting in a circle having girl talk or something. I mean, how diabolical is that?"

"Not very," she admitted.

"So, sorry about this. Tell me if you're too uncomfortable and I'll see what I can do." Misako snapped her fingers and we were on the wall in the aforementioned handcuff-things. Eikichi was in a cage. The cage had a plush carpet, a food bowl filled with kitty treats, water, a kitty bed, a litter box, a scratching post, and some little toys dangling from the top. All purple, of course.

Yukina giggled. "Do you like cats, Misako-chan?"

"Yup. Now, I'm gonna go out and drop hints all over the place for the boys to find. You all can just get to know each other."

I frowned and twitched my nose. "My nose itches."

"Hm, how about only one handcuff thing? That way you'll each have a free hand." The witch snapped her fingers again and I scratched my nose.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Anything else?" We shook our heads and a happy kitten purred. "Right-o times two. See you later!" She disappeared in another puff of purple smoke.

We stood in silence for a while.

"So," said Keiko eventually, "What's your name?"

"I am Aya, and I presume you two are Keiko and Yukina? I've already met Eikichi-chan."

"Oh! Are you that foreigner that Yusuke meets at the arcade?"

"Yeah."

"So, are you here for Kurama, then?"

"Ack! Um, Yukina-chan, I think she knows him as Shuichi."

"Eh?"

I laughed. "Don't worry about it. I already know."

"Eh? You do?"

"Eh? Know what?"

"About the guys and their adventures. It's kind of a long story," I lied. I just didn't feel like explaining it.

"Oh, that's okay," said Keiko, looking slightly confused, kind of in the same way I did when I reread that conversation.

We were quiet again as I was mentally ranting on how much I hate my school uniform. Suddenly...

"Keiko!" exclaimed Yusuke.

"Eikichi! Yukina!" exclaimed Kuwabara.

"Aya?" exclaimed Kurama.

"...!" exclaimed Hiei.

"Sorry, Kitsune! I guess I skipped class, after all!" exclaimed yours truly.

"Ah... I don't think it really counts as skipping if you were kidnapped..."

"Eh, same effect, ne?"

"Gosh-darnit, Aya!" Misako floated down from... somewhere. The ceiling wasn't THAT high... "Stop casually chatting with your savior! You're supposed to be in distress!"

"Oh, sorry. Aaaaaaah, nooooooo! Saaaaaaave meeeeeee!" I cried in my would-be falsetto.

"That's better. You others need to be distressing, too!"

"Yusuke!" cried Keiko, because she had experience with this sort of thing.

"Oh, dear, I'm so afraid?" cried Yukina timidly.

"Mew," cried Eikichi, before returning to contented purring.

"Very good," said Misako approvingly.

The guys raised their eyebrows.

"Okay," said Yusuke, "that was weird."

"Yeah," agreed Kuwabara.

"Yes," agreed Kurama.

"Hn," agreed Hiei.

"I do try," agreed Misako cheerfully.

"Well, whatever," said Yusuke. "Do I kick your ass now, or what?"

"Oh, no," said the purple demon witch, waving her hands in front of her. "I just wanted to get you all here."

"A trap?" asked Hiei suspiciously, partially because it made sense, and mostly because he's suspicious of pretty much everything.

"No."

"Then what?" the Tantei simultaneously asked.

"I just wanted to meet you guys!"

They facefaulted.

"That's it?" yelled Yusuke.

"Yup!" Misako nodded once, then suddenly appeared in front of Hiei. He looked surprised. _I guess she must be fast, even to him._ "Nee, Hiei's cute!"

"...What?"

"Wee!" Misako then proceeded to glomp the fire demon.

"**Yaah**!"

Everyone (except Eikichi) gawked for a moment. Then, Yusuke and Kuwabara and I cracked up, Keiko and Yukina started giggling, and even Kurama had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"**Get... off... me... damned... female!**"

Misako sighed and complied. "Aw, Hi-chan's no fun."

His eye twitched. "Hi-chan?" The laughing in the background, which had started to simmer down when the little demon clad in purple had removed herself from the little demon clad in black, got louder again.

The girl smiled winningly and moved over in front of Kurama. Misako looked up. Kurama looked down. Then she floated up Koenma-style so that he was at eye-level. "There. That's better. ...You have pretty eyes," she said, staring.

"...Thank you?"

"You're welcome!" She then floated over to Yusuke, who couldn't figure out if he should be congratulating the girl or glaring at her. "...I don't have anything to say about you, really."

Yusuke looked mildly offended.

Moving on to Kuwabara, Misako grinned. "I like you! You have the cutest little kitten in the world!"

Kuwabara looked proud. "She is, isn't she?"

"Yup." She lowered herself to the ground and walked to the middle of the room. "Well, I suppose that's it," she concluded. "You lot can go now. Oh, and Kuwa-chan, you can keep the cage."

Misako the Purple snapped her fingers and there was yet another puff of purple smoke. Once it cleared, we were on the roof of Meiou High. I blinked and collected my trash, which had miraculously not blown away.

"Okay, that chick is crazy," observed Yusuke.

"I admit, she's not exactly a perfect example of mental stability."

"In normal-person-language, she's crazy," Yusuke repeated.

"Yes."

"Hn," said Hiei, "if she shows her face again, I'll kill her."

"Aw," teased Yusuke, "did Misako-chan make oo angwy?"

"Shut up, detective."

"Oh, he's just a little sour, that's all," said Kurama. "Isn't that right, Hi-chan?"

"Call me that again and you'll find a katana shoved down your throat."

"Oh my," said Yukina quietly.

"Oh, do not worry," I said, coming up behind her. "He wouldn't actually do that. You see, death threats are his way of showing he cares. They're also his way of showing that he wants to kill someone, though, so you never know... Another way would be him, you know, stalking someone to protect them," I added pointedly.

"Oh," said Yukina, looking slightly confused. Hiei viciously glared at me. I waved.

"Hello!" came a voice from above. A familiar blue-haired ferry girl dropped down on her oar. "Koenma-sama just wanted me to tell you all something! It's lucky that I found you all here at once. Oh!" She suddenly seemed to notice mt existence. "I mean... um..."

Kurama chuckled. "Don't worry, Botan. She already knows."

"Well, okay," she said, at a loss.

"So, Botan," inquired Keiko politely, "What did you want to say?"

"Oh! Right! Koenma just wanted me to warn you about a rather eccentric demon witch that goes by the name of Misako the Purple who has just woken up from a hibernation of sorts. Now, though she's extremely powerful, she's relatively harmless... except that she has been causing trouble for Reikai authorities for over a century."

"A _century_?"

"Yes, Kuwabara. She _is_ a demon, after all; she can live for a long time. Anyway, she likes to play pranks in the Ningenkai, often threatening our secrecy. She never goes _too_ far, but she makes everyone very nervous. Her various 'jests' include things like bizarre vandalism, stalking people, stealing little things like socks and pencils just to confuse people, making crops circles... In fact, most 'extraterrestrial activity on Earth' is her doing. You know the Roswell incident? That was her. Nothing is too elaborate, by her standards. Anyway, now that Misako's awake again, you might want to stay on your toes."

"We've already met," Hiei said sourly.

"Oh, my! You have? What did she do?"

"She kidnapped Yukina, Aya, Eikichi and I," said Keiko.

"Then, once she met us, she said we could go, and sent us back here," added Kuwabara.

"Hmm. Well, I can't say I know what she's thinking, or what she's planning... Actually, it's likely that she's not actually _planning_ anything. Misako is, after all, pretty spontaneous. Anyway, this won't be the last you see of her," Botan concluded.

"I see. We'll keep that in mind," said Kurama.

"Well," said Botan, "Now that you know, I'm off! Oh, and Aya, nice meeting you! We should have tea sometime! See you!" With that, the ferry girl that had no trouble vocalizing exclamation points hopped back on her oar and flew off.

* * *

A/N: How long are these program things, anyway, you ask? ...I don't know. I think they last a week, but you know what? This story has absolutely no timeline. Valentine's Day will probably happen before Christmas. This lack of timeline is the one plothole I'm going to completely ignore. Why? Because timelines are a pain to work with (to me), and one week in Japan would make for a pretty short fanfiction. ...That, and I'm lazy. 

**Arano Honou:** Haha. Yeah, this has more chapters, but I'm not posting them all at once for a couple reasons. One, I'm still trying to revise them. Two, uploading in bulk is a pain. Three, it'd be nice to get my review count back up. I'll probably be posting every three days or so until I've run out of completed chapters.

**Napkin:** First off, thank you. Helpful reviews are so, well, helpful. Wow, that sounded stupid, but I think you know what I mean...

Second, CORRECT! You get a cookie! It's paraphrazed, as I don't remember the exact words and wouldn't know them in Japanese anyway, but it IS Granny Weatherwax from one of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchet! Here, have another cookie.

_**02/23/05** revisions_

Aha, the many-named one is right. The word I must have been groping for, a color with white added, is "tint." A "shade" is a color with black added, so, yeah, that doesn't make any sense. I changed it to "startling tint" instead. Does that work?

Hmm, Hiei and his apparent lack of paranoia... you have a point. Though he hasn't had much of a chance to act visably paranoid yet, he seems a little to cordial (for Hiei) in the later chapters. I'll try to work in his distrust towards me. Ooh, you know what? I think I'll write an extra chapter and post it before I post what used to be the next. (That was an awkward sentence.) The currently underdeveloped plot hasn't started yet, anyway. Now I just have to find a mini-plot for the Hiei-really-not-liking-me chapter... hey, maybe I'll use that as the title...

Yay for impartial readers!

**_ 08/11/05 _**_revisions_

Fixed two typos._  
_


	4. MiniChapter: Vikings at the Other Table

Mini-Chapter: Vikings At The Other Table

"Ah, it's still such a beautiful day!" I exclaimed as I walked towards our usual rendezvous point to meet Yusuke before we headed to the arcade. The remainder of the day had gone by without incident, though I wasn't quite sure whether I was happy or disappointed about this. The birdies were back.

"Girl." And, apparently, so was Hiei.

"**Gah!**" I jumped and shrieked as was custom for me, then regained my composure to turn around and face Hiei. "Please do not sneak up on me like that!"

He rolled his eyes. Well, two of them, at least. "That was hardly sneaking."

I pouted briefly, then casually laced my hands behind my head. "What did Hiei-san want?"

"Come with me." I blinked. _Not much of an answer... _"_Now._ Hurry up."

I held back a sigh and obeyed. We walked in relative silence as he led me to another conveniently placed dark, deserted alley, though it made more sense this time, as the area in which Yusuke and I normally met up was one to be prone to dark, deserted alleys. He eventually stopped, apparently satisfied with the location, and turned around to glare at me.

I eyed a dumpster warily and repeated, "What did Hiei-san want?"

"About Yukina. Your little display earlier." Articulate as ever.

"Display? Which one?"

He let out a quiet growl. "You _hinted_."

_Oohhhh._ "She had no idea what I was talking about."

"_That's not the point_."

My shoes became very interesting. "I'm sorry. It was cheeky of me. I'm sorry," I said softly, hands clasped in front of me.

If his glare lessened any, it was extremely subtle. "Overused as it is, 'sorry' doesn't cut it."

I bowed my head a bit more. "Still very sorry."

His eyes lifted, but the tension did not. "What are we supposed to think?"

"Hm?"

"You. Your presence here." Hiei's feet started pacing back and forth across my vision. "Yusuke tends to brush aside things like this, it wouldn't even occur to the oaf, and Kurama's human form is too nice to say anything about it." He scoffed. "Some foreigner comes out of nowhere and knows everything about us. A manga, an anime. It makes no difference how the outsider knows, because she shouldn't, plain and simple."

I looked up wordlessly, curious as to what he was getting at, just in time to see his gaze return to me.

"You don't belong here."

I blinked once, twice, and said nothing as his words sank in before an odd pain shot through my heart. The little fire demon had taken exactly what I had been trying so hard to ignore and shoved it in my face. And he was right.

He was right.

"Fiction..."

My unintentional whisper somehow invisibly altered Hiei's expression. "Maybe. Maybe not." He began pacing again. "Reality is only as one perceives it."

His brief, simple statement lifted a weight from my chest, and I smiled, softly, for the first time in months. Sure, I'd grin and laugh; I'd beam and smirk, and very rarely were they feigned; but this smile was different, not exactly of happiness, but of... something. Contentment, perhaps. Whatever it was, it made me warm inside.

Hiei's voice snapped me back to attention. "That much doesn't really matter. What matters is how you intend to use this information."

I tilted my head to one side. "Easy question. I don't."

"But how do we know that?"

"Oh." I bit my lip and thought a moment before snapping my fingers as a metaphorical lightbulb appeared over my head. "Jagan!"

"Hm?"

"Can Hiei-san read minds?"

He stared semi-disbelievingly. "You're suggesting I invade your personal thoughts?"

I shrugged. "So long as you stay out of the _really_ personal stuff, sure."

"Fine, then." Hiei closed his two normal eyes as he removed the white cloth from his forehead, revealing the infamous Jagan Eye. "Think as you normally would," he muttered.

_Okie dokey._

_Um._

_How do I normally think?_

_Er._

_Well, there's usually this train, and then this big rock comes along..._

_Monty Python!_

_Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, and eggs. I'd like to order the spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam and eggs, hold the spam._

_But you can't have a meal without spam!_

_I'll eat your spam. I'd like the spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam and eggs. Hold the eggs, please._

_Spam, spam, spam, spam! Spam, spam, spam, spam!_

_Vikings!_

_Vikings at the other table!_

_And now for something completely different!_

"_**What the hell?**_"

I blinked and refocused on the smell of garbage and the small fire demon in front of me.

"**_Is that how your mind works?_**"

"Ano. Yeah, pretty much."

Hiei shook his head incredulously. "Okay, this time, just don't think at all."

I nodded and cleared my mind. It was a bit odd, feeling someone probing through my head. That thought spurred an image suddenly to pop into the aforementioned head: a crouching, chibi Hiei, poking at a brain with a stick.

"Here I thought that witch was disturbing..." He shook his head a second time. "Try again."

I concentrated. This time I successfully let my mind go on stand-by, into a place where nothing, not even time, existed- my meditation room.

I obviously couldn't tell when, but at some point, I was violently jerked out of my trance. My eyes slowly opened to see a deeply annoyed fire demon readjusting his headband. It wasn't exactly annoyance, though. "What?"

He glared, though not at me. "You seemed to have another guest."

I tilted my head to one side. "Another guest? As in, someone else was in my mind, except without my permission?"

"Exactly, and I don't like the way his aura felt." Hiei's eyes returned to me. "I kicked him out, but I obviously can't act as your watch dog all the time. You need to build up your mental defenses. I didn't see anything decent."

"Hmm? Oh, I took them down to let you in. That's probably how this person got in. I usually have them up, though."

"Really. Let me see them."

_Okie dokey._

. . ._  
_

I felt him leave.

"That... was downright disturbing. Even with the pterodactyls and mountains of flame being illusions."

"That's the point."

"It's not enough, though," he said, giving me a hard look out of the corner of his eye. "The only very tangible things were the wolf just sitting there and staring, the wind, the hail, and the pirates. Any experienced psycic would see through them." There was a pause. "What's with the pirates?"

"They make decent fighters. If my zombie hordes don't do the job, the pirates are my backup."

"But why pirates?"

"They're pirates. Come on. _Pirates._"

"Uh huh... and the vikings off to the side eating breakfast and singing?"

"Those are just for fun."

"You disturb me."

"Good. Oh, hey, by the way, how did the intention-finding go?" I inquired.

Hiei turned away, clearly about to leave. "Yours? They weren't malicious—well, not very malicious—so I'll let you off. For now." With that, he zipped away.

And with _that_, Yusuke ran into the alley at a fast-but-human pace. "Aya! There you are! What are you doing?"

I looked at him with a blank face and said, completely serious, "I was abducted by aliens."

"Riiiiiiiight. Hiei was just here, wasn't he? Traces of his youki are still here."

I blinked, maintaining my near-nonexistent expression. "Hiei is an alien."

Yusuke gave me an odd look. "Sure he is. What'd he want?"

"My brains."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

I switched my solemn gaze to a smirk. "No."

"Why not?"

"Just to be mean. Come on, let's go." I started back they way we came, Yusuke right behind me.

"Come on, tell me!"

"Nope."

"Tell me!"

"Huh uh."

"Please?"

"Sorry."

"No you're not!"

"Ah, Yusuke-kun has caught my lie."

"Just tell me already!"

"I said no."

This continued all the way to the arcade.

* * *

A/N: Yo. 

I have about 8 chapters completed, I think. I don't know how many chapters this fic will have but it'll be at least... mm... 13 chapters? Woo, lucky number 13.

_**3/2/05 revisions**_

I took Nee-chan's advice. Is it better? I like it better. (Nee-chan is what I call Robyn.)

I also fixed a typo in the chp. 2 A/N and one in the chp. 3 A/N. Yes, I'm that much of a perfectionist.

Ever read something paragraph by paragraph, backwards?


	5. Vicious Pack of Females

Vicious Pack of Females

"Aya?"

"Eh?" I lifted my head off the foot of my bed.

"Aya."

I was half asleep on a Sunday morning, but I somehow managed an answer. "Mwuh." I never said it was a good answer. "Eh? Ud er oo duib hih, kummuh? Ibsh too iiih." Translation (in English): Eh? What are you doing here, Kurama? It's too early.

Kurama raised an eyebrow.

I yawned and sat up. "Nee, what time's it? Aya's sleepy," I asked, speech slurred considerably.

"Eleven thirty-seven."

"Oh." I looked up at him, dawning a dopey half-smile. "I should pro'lly get up, then, ne?"

"Probably, yes. You slept in your clothes again."

"What? Didja think I sleep in the nude? Ooh, naughty Kurama, having dirty thoughts." I was awake enough by now to make sarcastic comments. Had I been talking to anyone but Kurama, I would've been treated to an exaggerated eye-roll. "I always do. I fail ta see th' point in special clothes fer sleeping."

"I suppose that makes sense. Are you hungry?"

"Eh, probably."

"Probably?"

"I don't usually notice," I clarified, swinging my legs over the side of my bed and rising to my feet. Kurama was standing about a meter away from me. I grinned groggily at him. "So, how're the wife and kids?"

Kurama's eyebrow shot upwards.

I looked out the window. It was raining. "Lovely mornin', eh?" I commented. "Jus' beautiful. Should go to the beach. Bring Hiei along. We all know how he loves ta play volleyball, ain't tha' right, Kitsune? Such a perky lil fellow, that 'e is. Should teach a kindergarten class, ne?"

Kurama gave me a vaguely amused look. "You realize he's standing right behind you."

I turned around to see a glaring black figure, too asleep to wonder why he was there. "Why, so 'e is! Mister Happy Sunshine himself!" I grinned stupidly again and raised a hand in greeting. "Yo."

Hiei glared.

I shook my head and sighed. "So, how 'bout them birdies, eh? Always spreading rumors an' th' like. Shoulda heard tha' robin th' other day, goin' on 'bout What's-Her-Face cheating on What's-His-Name. I know she ain't the most righteous of girls, but really, she wouldn't go that far, ain't I right? Ne? Hiei?"

Hiei continued to glare and I heard Kurama stifling vaguely confused laughter.

"Righ' then, I'll just get myself some breakfast, shall I? Lunch. Whatever." I walked past Kurama and into the hall. However, I had apparently forgotten that my bedroom and the kitchen were on two different levels, and a couple seconds later, there was a series of loud thumps. "Oww..."

I stood and looked up to see Kurama at the top of the stairs, looking rather more amused than worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied, rubbing my posterior. "That woke me up rather well." I saw Hiei standing slightly behind and to the left of Kurama and added somewhat awkwardly, "Er... forget everything I said, please."

"Hn." Hiei disappeared.

I nodded and wandered over to the kitchen, Kurama following, probably for lack of anything better to do. I opened the cabinet, my eyes darting across the contents. "Eh, not cereal. I will probably end up drowning myself in the milk. Hmm... I feel like... peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

"For breakfast?" asked Kurama.

"No."

"Lunch, then?"

"No. It is a special meal that I like to call... meal. It takes place when I remember to eat."

"I see."

Kurama remained leaning in the entrance to the kitchen as I got out the ingredients. I glanced at him as I got out the first piece of bread. "Nothing better to do?"

"Actually, I should probably be..."

Tuning him out, I shrugged and began preparing my soon-to-be four layer sandwich as he left the room.

* * *

I grinned at the finished product and at Kurama's raised eyebrow. (He had just come back.) "There. Think it's big enough?" 

"Well, that depends. How many armies are you feeding?"

I laughed, not being able to think up a clever response at the time, and picked it up. Just as I'd taken my first bite, the doorbell rang. I looked inquiringly at Kurama, chewing the sticky goodness. He went to answer the door and I resumed my meal. I heard him greet someone and invite them in, and though the other voice sounded familiar, I couldn't place it. They talked for a moment, then everyone's favorite blue-haired deity of death appeared in the entrance where Kurama had stood previously.

"Aya!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Keiko and Yukina and I are going to the mall later this afternoon, and I just thought this would be a good opportunity to get to know you better! Want to tag along?"

I held up my finger as I finished chewing, then replied with my mouth trying to stick to itself, "When are you going?"

"Oh, we were going to meet at the main entrance at two o'clock."

I nodded. "Okay, that should give me enough time to finish eating and take a shower and all that. I'll meet you there, yes?"

"Right! I just leave now so you can finish your-" Botan's expression flickered as she eyed my sandwich, "ano, lunch. See you later!"

I waved as she excused herself, my mouth once again full with sticky goodness.

* * *

"Hmm, now where is it again...?" 

Japan had, again, rearranged itself so that I didn't know how to get where I was going. It was probably a conspiracy. It was all a conspiracy. Or maybe that's just what they want us to think...

I suddenly stopped on my way to the mall. I sensed that I was being followed. Turning around, I found that my predictably unreliable instincts had been accurate. Five girls I recognized from school stood glaring before me. "(A vicious pack of females, huh?)" I started to smirk, then changed it into a naive, polite, confused, and very fake smile before they noticed. "Did you need something?"

The apparent leader took the invitation to open her big mouth. "What's that you said in English?" she asked suspiciously. I guess she hadn't bought my near-perfected act that usually worked.

Still playing the actress, I practically glowed at them, just reeking of the sweetness that only Yukina seemed to genuinely possess. "Oh, I was just saying that you look familiar. Say, aren't you those girls that follow Shuichi-kun around?"

They glowered in unison. "Yeah, that's who this is about," said one.

"Is that so?" Watching Yukina being so adorably clueless so many times had payed off. I made a mental note to thank her.

"What do you mean, 'Is that so?' You know full well what we're here for!" These girls reminded me of the Yuki fanclub.

This 'vicious pack of females' was already on the hunt, and therefor my act wouldn't work, so I dropped it. In an instant, my face fell into a 'we are not amused' sort of cold, dark, Hiei-esque glare. "Humor me," I said dryly.

They seemed slightly taken aback, but the leader recovered quickly. "We know you're living with him."

"Yeah, so does everyone else at school."

She scowled. "There had better not be anything going on between you two, or else!"

"Or else what?" I said automatically as she bristled. "Don't worry. There is nothing between us and I sincerely doubt anything will develop."

"Yeah, right! We've seen how familiar you are with him!" At this point, I wasn't even paying attention to who was doing the talking.

"What, am I not allowed to have guy friends?"

My sarcastic comment was pointedly ignored. "I'll bet you're trying to seduce our sweet, innocent Shuichi-kun!"

At this, my eyes widened and I laughed in a genuine but vaguely bitter manner. "Number one, he is not yours. Number two, I would not define him as innocent. Number three, that's just pathetically stupid. Stop fantasizing and get a life, brainless females." _If anything, he's seducing me,_ I added to myself silently.

Their eyes widened simultaneously. "Did you just call us!"

"Yes. Now leave me be before I begin to get annoyed."

They gawked as I brushed past them nonchalantly. Hopefully, they'd remain in a daze until I was at least out of range... No such luck. I rolled my eyes and stifled a sigh as I heard an annoying voice behind me. "Hey, wait just one minute, you!"

"No." I didn't stop or turn around, with the hopes that they'd just give up. I felt their eyes bore into my back for a couple seconds or so before their presence left me. For this I was grateful. I grinned.

"Not a bad performance."

I shrieked and jumped a foot in the air before whirling around to see who had spoken. "Don't do that!"

Hiei's face was pretty much expressionless. "They caught on, though."

I blinked to clear my surprise before replying, "Yes, I know. That is why I stopped halfway through. Rabid females are not easy to dissuade once they have latched on to something."

He cringed. "So I've noticed."

His cringe got me curious, but I decided to change the subject, only because I was such a wonderful person. Remember that, darn you. Aya is a wonderful, wonderful person, so give her all your money. ...Now. "So, Hiei, were you following me, or what?"

"Kurama doesn't trust you to find your way to the large human shopping building by yourself."

I sighed. "Get lost once and they never let you forget it."

"Considering it's right there," he said, gesturing with his head, "I guess that means I can go now, unless you're incapable of walking in a straight line."

"Nah, I'm good."

Suddenly a voice came out of seemingly nowhere. "There you are, Hi-chan!"

Hiei's eyes widened for a split second, then he disappeared before I had time to blink. I knew that voice.

Misako the Purple appeared where Hiei had been standing only moments before. "Oh, drat," she said, snapping her fingers. "He got away again. It's not easy, you know, stalking someone as fast as that and keeps running away. But it's more fun that way, so I'm not complaining."

"I think he'd prefer to have it called something like a strategic retreat," I said thoughtfully.

"Probably. So," she exclaimed, changing the subject, "where are you headed on this fine Sunday afternoon?" It had stopped raining, but was still pretty wet and miserable outside.

"Oh, I'm going to the mall with Keiko, Yukina, and Botan."

"Oh. Say 'hi' to that cute little Koorime for me, will ya?"

"Sure."

"Thanks! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a fire demon to track down. Ta ta for now."

"See you." She disappeared as I turned around again and walked across the street to the mall. Surveying the area in a split second, I noticed three familiar figures near the entrance and headed towards them. "Hello."

The other three said their greetings, bowing slightly as I bowed in return.

"Sorry I'm late," I said. "I got a little... held up."

Keiko and Botan looked a little worried. "Held up?" asked Keiko. I realized what 'held up' probably often meant for them.

"Just some girls from school," I clarified, waving a hand dismissively. They visibly relaxed, and I mentally thanked myself for thinking to leave out that they had clearly been one step away from jumping me. "So, are we going to have some female bonding time, or what?"

* * *

My companions didn't comment on the fact that everything I bought, or even looked at in consideration, was black. Come to think of it, nobody commented that all I wore was black jeans and over-sized black t-shirts with something amusing on the front. I guess they were too used to a certain unnamed sociopath to even notice. 

The actual shopping trip had been fairly uneventful, if you could ignore all the puppies running around the place, with a short, purple-clad girl near the pet store calling, "Be free, my little friends! Be free!" I guess she had temporarily given up on Hiei.

* * *

It was as we were saying our goodbyes that things began to get interesting. Hiei arrived to take Yukina back to Genkai's temple, and just after they left, Keiko glanced at the mammoth clock on the front of the building. 

"Five o'clock already?" she commented. "Wow, time flies when you're having fun, ne? Well, I've got to go home now or my parents will worry. Goodbye!"

We waved as she walked off before Botan blinked in realization. "Five! Oh, no, I have to get something from Koenma-sama and have the boys all at Kuwabara's house in a half hour. I'd love to walk you home, but I've really got to hurry," she said apologetically.

Hmm. "Ah, don't worry about it. I was going to check out this arcade nearby I heard about," I lied. "See you!"

"See you!" The friendly ferry girl waved and hurried off, perhaps to a safe place to summon her oar. Hmm, indeed.

Hefting my tote-bag thing (which shall henceforth be referred to as my tag) over my shoulder with one hand and gripping the handles of my shopping bag (which shall not henceforth be referred to as my shag) with the other, I set off for Kuwabara's. How did I know where it was? Simple. I'd been there before, several times, though briefly. That, and my directional skills were extremely inconsistant.

I hummed cheerfully and evilly to myself as I walked along. About halfway to the Kuwabara residence, I felt a familiar, annoying, and rather loud presence behind me... again. I sighed and turned around to face the fanclub once more. "Did you need something?" I asked nicely, as I was in a better mood.

The girls glared at me in unison. I thought to myself that if synchronized glaring was an Olympic sport, these five would at least get a bronze.

"Where are you going?"

_If we could just find a way to clone Hiei, well... imagine the possibilities. That team would win the gold hands-down._

"Hello?"

_Then we would un-clone Hiei after he won, and he wouldn't care about the medal, would he? No. So I'd ask for it and he'd give it to me because he didn't care and then... I could pawn it or something. Think of the money, man. Not to mention the money you get just for being famous._

"Earth to Aya!"

_And then if we could clone him again every year... I could get so rich..._

"We asked you a question!" they screeched.

_How about that one...? Nah, synchronized screeching would never catch on._ I snapped out of my daze and looked back at the girls, making a mental note to tell Kurama my plan. "What? Sorry."

The leader rolled her eyes. "Tell us where you're going."

"A little nosy, are we?" Seeing fists clenching, I continued before I got them too mad. "A friend's house." They just wouldn't be expecting me. I gave them a friendly 'come on' sort of gesture and turned around to continue my trek. "I'm in a bit of a hurry, though. Walk with me, will you?"

They radiated surprise, a bit taken back with my display of geniality, then hurried to catch up with me. "Who? What friend?" asked the leader suspiciously.

"Kuwabara Kazuma's place." I suppressed a smirk at their vague shock. "You know him?"

"K... Kuwabara? The... delinquent Kuwabara?"

"Yeah, that's him! Yusuke-kun's going to be there, too," I added, smiling.

Glancing back, their expressions now seemed somewhat overwhelmed. "Urameshi Yusuke?"

"Yes! That's right! I just hope they don't fight too much. You can get discounts for buying in bulk, but gauze still isn't cheap, you know?"

"Ah, yeah. We'll... let you go. Ano, have fun."

"Oh, I will!" Beaming, I waved to them as they ran away. "(That in itself was pretty fun, though.)" I resumed my humming as I continued to the Kuwabara residence.


	6. Fun With Stalkers

Fun With Stalkers

I carefully erased any traces of anxiety from my face as I rang the doorbell of the Kuwabara residence, smiling to see that it was Shizuru that answered the door, cigarette hanging from her lips.

She leaned casually on the door frame. "Can I help you?"

"Ano, yes. Would you be Shizuru, older sister to Kazuma?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Okay, what's that little punk done this time? I can beat him up for you if you want-"

I laughed and waved my hands in front of me. "No, no. I'm a friend of his."

She visibly relaxed. "Oh, okay then. He's not home right now, but I can tell him you stopped by. What's your name?"

"Aya, and it's actually a good thing he's not here yet." At Shizuru's raised eyebrow, I elaborated, but first I whipped a small Japanese-English dictionary, flipped through it briefly, then looked back up, beaming. "I am here for... espionage."

"Is that so...?"

I nodded. "Yup! See, Botan-chan let it slip that Kuwabara-kun, Yusuke-kun, Hiei-san, and Kitsune will be meeting here, and I'm thinking it's for their next mission or something, and I really, really, really want to know what it is, because I'm bored and nosy."

"Hmm." Shizuru considered me for a moment. "You know about _that spirit detective-ing stuff_, then?"

"Yup!"

She thought for another moment before grinning mischievously. "Come on in." I mimicked her grin and did so, closing the door behind me. "Put your stuff by the door- no, they'll see that. Give 'em here- I'll put them in my room." She slid open a door and placed my stuff inside before continuing. As we walked into the kitchen, she asked, "Want something to eat?"

"Mm, no th- are those bananas?"

"Yeah."

I gave her the infamous puppy-dog eyes. "May Aya-chan have one?"

Shizuru laughed. "Sure."

"Yatta!" I half-skipped over to the basket of the aforementioned fruit, picked out a ripe one, peeled it open, and took a bite. "Mm. Banana-y goodness."

We both looked up as we heard the front door open and close, followed by the sound of four pairs of footsteps. I hid behind the counter as Kazuma poked his head into the kitchen. "Hey, Nee-san, we're gonna use the VCR, okay?"

"Sure, whatever." After the footsteps faded and I heard the door slide shut, Shizuru poked her head over the counter. "You have high spirit awareness?" she asked.

"Not that I know of."

"Didn't think so. Well, you can listen from outside the door, if you want, but you'll probably only hear static."

"Are these Koenma tapes interactive?"

"I think so."

"Then I'll just pick up what I can from what the guys say," I explained. I had thought this out ahead of time, after all. Sort of.

She nodded. "That might work. You'll have to be inhumanly quiet if you don't want to be caught, though, kid."

I sent a mysterious smile over my shoulder as I started down the hall leading to the door they had gone through. "I'm only caught when I want to be caught."

I sat down outside the door, slowly nibbling on my banana, and heard Yusuke speak. "Okay, Koenma, what's up?"

Then I heard some static.

"Wait, lemme guess," said Yusuke, rudely interrupting the static. "These girls he's taking- I'll bet they're virgins, and he's gonna sacrifice them to some monster?"

Brief static.

"Whoah. I was kidding."

Kuwabara spoke next. "Well, I guess those stories had to come from somewhere."

Kurama's turn. "Virgin sacrifices are cliché for a reason. What kind of monster is it?"

Static.

There was a sneer in Hiei's voice. "How typical. You're sending us off to fight something and you don't even know what it is."

Static again.

"Well," said Yusuke, "we'll just have to get this guy before that can happen. He's in the Makai, right? Got a portal handy?"

Insert static here.

Kurama spoke again. "The woods just east of Kuwabara's house? That's not far. If that's it, we should get going."

There was a little more static before the TV clicked off. I grinned and stood up just in time to look up at Kuwabara as he slid the door open.

"Oh, Aya," he said absently.

"Yo." I took a small bite of my banana.

Three other faces came into view behind him and he blinked. "Wait... Aya?"

"Yeah?"

"Aya!"

I sidestepped and turned around to lean on the wall to my right. "That would be my name, yes. Congratulations."

The full Tantei moved into the hall, all eyebrows raised in either surprise, curiosity, or both. Yusuke crossed his arms. "What are you doing here?"

I glanced downward slightly, then back up. "Eating a banana." His questioning glare turned into an incredulous stare.

"I can see that!"

"Good banana, too. Yummy." I popped the rest into my mouth and casually strolled to the kitchen to discard the peel. "Then why did you ask?"

Kurama decided to intervene before Yusuke grew annoyed. "Allow me to rephrase the question. Why are you here, and how long have you been here?"

"Now we're getting somewhere." I located the trash bin and tossed the peel. "I came because I'm bored and nosy. I arrived a couple minutes before you guys did, hid behind the counter, then sat outside this door, listening in."

"Well, her level of available reiki is average," said Kuwabara, "so she couldn't have heard more than static."

Hiei snorted. "Koenma wasn't the only one talking. Surely you aren't deaf as well as stupid?" He ignored Kuwabara's indignant huff and directed his next question at me. "You."

"Me," I replied pertly, rather amused by the short demon's blatent rudeness.

"How much do you know?"

"Right to the point, I see." I lazily laced my hands behind my head. "Well, since you asked straight out, I'll answer straight out. There's a guy that's kidnapping virgin girls to sacrifice to some monster, type unknown. There's a portal in the woods just east of here."

Yusuke nodded. "That sums it up pretty good. If the toddler had just said that, we'd have been long gone by now."

"Hn. He just likes to hear himself talk."

"We really should get going," said Kurama. He then turned to me. "Aya, I want you to stay here until we get back. Understand?"

"Yup."

"Good. Let's go," said Yusuke, leading them out of the house.

Shizuru, who had been silent to enjoy the show, gave me a look. "What, that's it?"

"Of course not. I said I understood, but I never said anything about obeying. I'll follow them at a distance."

Shizuru took a drag of her cigarette and smirked. "Nice one, kiddo. Better hurry. They move fast."

"Right." I walked briskly to the door, opened it, then turned around. "Many thanks, Shizuru-san." After a brief bow, I left, closing the door behind me.

"Good luck, kid. Try not to get eaten."

* * *

I smirked at the forest floor. "First time in the Makai, and they're courteous enough to leave a path for me? How kind of them. I'll be sure not to thank them." They apparently weren't worried about leaving a trail, and why would they? This wasn't a mission of espionage... but mine was, and it just kept getting easier and easier, I thought to myself, when I heard a low growl behind me. 

The thing about the Demon World is that demons tend to hang out there.

Eh.

I let out a light sigh, turning around to face the source of the growl. Two yellow, glowing eyes were visible from the underbrush. "Oh, how original. Show yourself, buddy. I'm not gonna be intimidated by eyes alone. For all I know, they could belong to a demon bunny rabbit."

A creature stepped out of the shadows. It was... a... creature, not worth a description (actually, I'm just lazy), and not resembling any earthly creature that I had ever seen.

I didn't really care. "Right, okay. Did you need something? I haven't got all day."

It blinked, then growled again.

"No? Then I'll be going now. Don't wait up." I turned back around and continued.

There was a pause before the creature suddenly appeared in front of me, growling again.

"Look, I'm in a hurry."

Growl.

I sighed, then walked briskly around it. "Whatever."

After that, I just ignored it. I kept walking, and it kept following and growling. Again, I didn't really care.

"Looks like you have a Ripper Demon stalking you."

I glanced up at the trees where the male voice had come from without stopping. "Oh, is that what it's called? How infinitely clever. Hello."

"Hi," said the voice.

A minute passed.

"What, you're going to just ignore me?"

"I'm not ignoring you. I said hello, didn't I?" I glared halfheartedly at the little demon that was still growling. "Look, piss off already."

"I'm wounded," said my other companion.

"I was talking to Zippo over there. He's beginning to grate my nerves."

"That kind of demon is notoriously persistent."

"So I've noticed. Annoying little dude."

"I think your nonchalant attitude has confused him, though. It's hard to chase something that's not running away. Why aren't you scared?"

"I'm only afraid of heights and spiders."

"Ah."

"Oh, and needles." There was a shudder. "Listen, I'd love to sit and chat over tea, really, but I'm busy."

"With what?"

"I'm stalk- (Damnit, leave me alone!) -ing my buddies."

"Four guys? Really strong auras?"

"Yeah. You see them?"

"Nah, but I can sense them. They're like lighthouses."

"How close are they?"

"Around 25 meters. And they don't know you're following them?"

"Not unless I want them to."

"Wow. Hey, there's someone else here. They're masking their ki pretty well, though."

"How close?"

"About... 14... 11... 6... shit. Watch yourself."

"Eh?" The tree-traveling man's presence had suddenly disappeared- "Eh?" -and a huge net-thing had suddenly come out of nowhere- "Eh?" -and I was suddenly in it. "Shit."

A creepy shadow-guy with what looked like a deformed bazooka stepped stepped out from nowhere. "Good, only three more virgins to- what?"

A small throwing scythe-and-chain flew out of, you guessed it, nowhere. I "eek"ed as it whizzed past my ear, slicing through the net before returning to its owner.

"It's rude to attack a lady you just met," commented my savior, aka the tree-traveling man, from behind me. "Oi, whoever you are, your friends are coming."

I "eek"ed again as I felt a strong arm pick me up by my waist. There was a whoosh of huge wings that were probably somehow attached to the arm that was quickly carrying me upward.

The winged somebody deposited me on a branch that seemed to be far higher than necessary. "Better keep you out of harm's way, huh?"

"Thanks, but did it have to be so high?"

"Yup. More amusing for me. Here, after your buddies are done with this virgin-napping weirdo, open this." He thrust a small bit of rolled-up paper into my hand and disappeared again.

I heard a fight, but couldn't see it from my perch. Damnit. There goes the main event. He did that on purpose.

The fight-y noises stopped after a while, and, assuming it was over, I unrolled my present to find... "KYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" ...a huge spider. It quickly crawled away at the scream that could probably be heard miles away.

"Aya?" came Yusuke's voice.

"Argh!"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Hey, there was something written on the paper in sloppy but legible handwriting:

_So, have they found you yet?_

I grumbled to myself, stuffing the note in my pocket before calling out to the gang. "Baking cookies! Just get me down from here!"

"...Can I have some?"

* * *

Once we got back to the human world, I got a scolding from Kurama. Luckily, it was interrupted by Botan, who announced that the monster had gotten loose, and was hungry. They had to go right back through the portal. 

So what did I do? I followed them, of course.

* * *

A/N: The guy only rescued me because a) he's such a wonderful person, and b) it would be weird to just watch someone get kidnapped, thinking to yourself, "Darn, I guess I'll have to find someone else to talk to now." 

Also, one of the reviewers of the original cleverly explained that I had been hanging around people with strong auras, and their auras had rubbed off on me, allowing me to survive the harsh makai winds that would normally kill a human.

Yeah. What she said. Thanks. I hadn't even thought of that. ...I mean, that's exactly what I had been thinking the whole time. Ha. Ha. Ha.


	7. Any More Questions?

Any More Questions?

I sighed as I leisurely lay back in the tree. "Oh, yeah. This is the life. Lounging in a comfortable tree while waiting for your friends to return from kicking evil ass." I grinned. "And all the time in the world to talk to myself, with no one to give me weird looks." I frowned. "Too bad, ne? I take pride in those weird looks... Ah, well. I talk to myself the most when I am alone, anyway. Why am I talking to myself in Japanese? Hm. Maybe because some guy that might as well be a psycho serial killer is eavesdropping, and it would be quite amusing indeed to freak him out."

I paused, as if waiting for the aforementioned psycho to suddenly pop up. He didn't. Unsure if I was relieved or disappointed, I settled for indifference. "Fine. Be that way, you psycho serial killer. See if I care." I had the feeling that I was being watched, though by whom, I didn't know. Regardless, it would be fun to mess with his head. He wouldn't be able to tell if I knew he was there or not. Quite frankly, I was wondering the same thing, considering the fact that my intuition concerning my surroundings was only right about three-fourths of the time.

"Well, whatever. No harm in having a little fun, ne? Unless, of course, the fun directly involves harm, but that really does not count. ...Unless, of course, I am the one inflicting that harm, in which case we find a loophole within a loophole. Yay, loopholes!"

My ears heard nothing noteworthy, but I could practically feel someone chuckling. After all, I had a thing for making people laugh, so why not have a special sixth sense dedicated entirely to humor? This sense was almost as strong as my danger sense, and, needless to say, I used it to my advantage. In this particular case, the subject's mental laughing gave him away, and I had a feeling I knew who it was, but I wasn't going to say anything just yet. I would mess with his mind a little more first.

"Aya-chan is happy that Kitsune taught her the Japanese word for doom! Doom is such a fun word. Doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom. ...I think I shall translate the Doom Song into Italian! I mean, Japanese! I don't know Italian. Why did I say Italian?" And I then proceeded to sing the doom song, if one could consider it singing. It was really more like cheerfully chanting with vague pitches and no tune or rhythm whatsoever. I did so love the doom song.

I could practically hear the eavesdropper dancing somewhere in between amusement, confusion, and slight fear. I stopped singing and grinned. I had him where I wanted.

"You know, just for fun, I shall scream as loudly as I can. It is a good thing," I added loudly and pointedly, "that no one is around to hear me, because they would loose their hearing!"

I could almost hear the cringe.

"Or, maybe I shall not."

I could nearly hear his relief.

"Instead, I shall do this!" I hummed to myself as I pulled a face mask out of one of my many pockets and put it on. I then extracted from the same pocket a (black) bandanna and tied it around my head so that it would cover my nose and mouth. Still humming, I pulled my (also black) t-shirt over my nose. Lastly, I reached into another pocket, and retrieved a (also black, this time with flame decals licking the sides) lighter, and something small and round with a wick. "(Aw, guess I can't warn them, huh? I don't know the Japanese word for stink bomb! Oh well!)"

I hummed.

I climbed down.

I kept humming.

I carefully set it down in wet patch of ground, making sure the wick was on top.

I continued to hum.

I lit the wick.

I was still humming.

I climbed back up.

I stopped humming and grinned maliciously.

Some sort of gas filled the clearing.

I could hear a distinct choking sound coming from my left.

I resumed my humming.

I could feel his glare boring into my skull. Whoever had been spying on me was obviously not very happy. "Don't worry; it will dissipate quickly. When it does, I would greatly appreciate it if you would show yourself. I don't believe we have been properly introduced." The smoke cleared in a minute or so and I hopped down from my perch. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing as I saw a tall, dark shadow of a figure among the trees.

"I didn't greatly appreciate that," came a voice. I was right: it was my less-annoying stalker from earlier. Ah, revenge is sweet.

I shrugged. "You had it coming to you. You're lucky I'm nonviolent."

"Oh, so you assume you could hurt me? That's awful presumptuous."

"It is."

"You realize I could probably kill you with my little finger?"

"Yes!" I beamed cheerfully at the shadow.

"I honestly don't know whether to be angry or amused." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Well, it would certainly be in my better interest if you were amused, so that's what I suggest."

There was a light laugh. "Might as well, ne? Besides, it's not my style to go around killing defenseless human girls."

"That is definitely a good thing on my part."

I could tell he was grinning again. "Yup. Well, you wanted me to show myself, ne?"

"Yes. I prefer speaking face to face, rather than face to shadow." He stepped out. "Or, in this case, face to chest."

I discreetly (or at least, I hoped it was discreet) studied him. He was tall, clad in black and white, and his features could probably best be described as roguish. His hair was long, and in a high ponytail, and he had... bat wings. I barely resisted the urge to shout, "Batman!"

"So, I couldn't help but wonder, what's a defenseless human girl doing in the Makai? In a forest with many plants that would not hesitate to kill you?"

"I don't need to worry about the plants, because I have a friend that they sort of listen to. As for why I'm here, I'm waiting for my friends to return from their mission."

"Mission?"

"Yes. They are spirit detectives."

Before I had time to blink, he had a familiar scythe at my throat. "Spirit detectives, eh?"

"I wasn't really listening when they went over the mission, though," I added calmly, as if I **didn't** have a very sharp object uncomfortably close to my jugular.

He ignored my comment. "Why would you think I would let you live?"

"Because you love me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Give me one good reason to not kill you."

"Give me one good reason _to_ kill me," I countered.

His eyes narrowed. "Ever heard of guilt by association?"

"Ever heard of four very angry guys seeking revenge? It would not be in your best interest to kill me. You would gain nothing except a price on your head."

"I already have a price on my head."

"Is that so? Then I suppose you're desperate to alert them to your presence?"

"You have a point." He frowned, and slowly removed the scythe and backed away. "You will not speak a word about me."

"Okay. I wasn't going to, anyway. Gyuh." I rubbed my neck. "I would say that I looked Death in the eye, but Death's eyes are nothing like yours."

He raised an eyebrow, bordering on amusement. "Oh?"

"Death's eyes are pink."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's really a cute girl; very perky, and somewhat of a ditz."

"Mm."

"Her name is Botan."

"I see."

"You know," I said suddenly, changing the subject, "we never did get properly introduced." I bowed. "I am Aya."

His smirk returned. "Kuronue."

I blinked. "Could... you... repeat that, please...?"

He gave me an odd look. "Kuronue."

"Ano, again?"

He rolled his eyes. "Let me spell it out for you. KU-RO-NU-E."

"No way." I looked at him again. "I thought he looked familiar.Do you mean, _the_ Kuronue? The thief?"

He smirked at my expression. "Heard of me, have you?"

"...You could say that..." I frowned. "Ano, I do not mean to be rude... but... I thought you were dead."

"Last time I checked, I was alive. Where'd you get that idea?"

"...A friend... that sort of witnessed your death." Actually, the second Yu Yu Hakusho movie, but he didn't need to know that.

"And who is this friend?"

I shook my head. "Does bamboo mean anything to you?"

"Well, it's a plant... pandas eat it."

"I mean, does it give you any odd feelings."

His eyebrows knit together. "Now that you mention it, it does make me shiver a little. Huh, how odd."

"Not as odd as the fact that you are alive." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "It was bamboo trap that killed you. Pierced a major artery, or something like that."

"Wouldn't I remember this incident?"

"You should, unless your memory was tampered with. I do believe you and Youko Kurama were on some heist, to get a mirror thing, I think, and as you were escaping, you dropped your pendant, and went back to get it, and... yeah. Bamboo trap go bang. You go splurg."

He frowned thoughtfully. "I remember up to when I went back to get my pendant... Wait, how'd you know about my pendant?"

"Same friend. Continue."

"Everything is fuzzy after that."

"Well, what's the next thing you remember?"

"I was in a box thing, in a tomb-like place... then I came outside, and was in the forest, near our hideout. Kurama was nowhere to be found."

"How long ago was this?"

"I don't know, maybe a month? I've been looking for Kurama ever since." He suddenly glanced at me suspiciously. "Why are you asking me this, and who is this friend?"

"Long story..."

"I've got time." He was giving me a look that was clearly an order to tell him.

I sighed. "Well, I guess I will start at the beginning, which is not long before I was born. About seventeen years ago. I don't know the details, but Youko Kurama was badly injured by a bounty hunter. He went into soul form, or something like that, and escaped to the human world. He was too weak to do much, so the only way he could survive was to enter an unborn human child before it got its own soul. When he was ten, his powers would return, and he planned to leave then. But something happened, and again, I do not know the details, but he grew to love his human mother, and didn't want to leave her, especially after her husband died. His human body is now seventeen."

I glanced at Kuronue. His face was blank. I looked away and continued. "When his human body was fifteen, there was this boy, fourteen. He was an obnoxious punk, and still is."

"Wait, what does this have to do with Kurama?"

"Everything. It's rude to interrupt. Anyway, this guy, his name is Yusuke, was, and still is, the toughest punk around. Remember, this is in the human world, so he had not run into any demons yet. Anyway, he got hit by a car when trying to save a little kid and died. He's a real jerk, but has a soft spot for kids. He wasn't supposed to die just yet, though, and the Reikai didn't have a place for him, so he hung around as a ghost for a while. Eventually, he went back into his body, but he was in a debt, of sorts. He had to become a spirit detective."

"Is this one of those friends you were talking about?"

"Yes. He actually caught his first escaped convict without even trying. It was almost an accident- he had no clue what was going on, but he saw a little imp thing and caught it because it had possessed someone and made him do bad things. He had not been trained in any way yet, and he probably didn't even know demons existed before that. He found it a little weird, but didn't think too much about it, because he does not think too much about anything. He does not think too much at all, in fact. But Yusuke is just like that.

"Meanwhile, Kurama's human mother got terribly sick. She probably wouldn't live. So, with two other demons, one being an annoying, soul-eating demon, a weakling in comparison. I don't think he was very well liked. The other was Hiei, who comes in later. Anyway, they stole these three artifacts from the Reikai vault, each for their own reasons: Gouki wanted the Orb of Baas because it would make soul-eating much easier. I think Hiei wanted the Conjuring Blade mostly to wreak havoc in the human world- as he put it, 'perpetuate some delicious nastiness.' Kurama wanted the Forlorn Hope to save his mother. Yusuke beat Gouki, and barely beat Hiei, who was in mid B-class at that time. His only training at this point was a thirty-second lesson from Koenma on how to use the Rei Gun.

"Kurama, on the other hand, did not want to fight Yusuke. He told him what was going on just before using the Forlorn Hope. At the last minute, as the mirror was taking his life, Yusuke jumped in without thinking, as always, and told the mirror to take some of his life, instead, so that it wouldn't take all of Kurama's. He had seen his mother mourning his own death, and didn't want Kurama's mother to have to do the same, without him coming back from the dead afterward. As he put it, 'No woman should have to suffer such agony.' Yeah, Yusuke is a jerk and an idiot, but a good person when you get right down to it. The mirror was touched at this, so they both survived. Now, how a mirror's nonexistent heart could be touched is beyond me, but whatever.

"Kurama and Hiei, in lieu of prison, had to become spirit detectives as well. I suppose you could call it community service. The fourth guy, a human called Kuwabara, was never officially made to be a detective, but just tagged along all the time anyway, because he felt it was his duty. He's also an idiot, but he has a strong honor code and sense of ethics, and for that, I respect him. I think he is the weakest on the team, but when you think about it, it's actually amazing. There's really nothing too special about him, yet he is perhaps one of the strongest humans alive. After all, as it turns out, Yusuke has some demon blood, and therefore has an unfair advantage, so he doesn't count. That, and he has been personally trained by Genkai, one of the top five reiki masters.

"And that is my short summary."

Kuronue just stared.

"Any questions?"

"Wait, you said this all started seventeen years ago, but I was with Kurama just a little while ago."

"Yes. I am thinking that, perhaps, you were dead during those seventeen years."

"And came back to life?" he suggested somewhat sarcastically.

"Yeah. My best guess is that you were somehow resurrected."

"Oh, yeah? Who the hell would want to resurrect me, and why?"

"Well, there is a suspect that came to mind," I said, sweatdropping.

"Who?"

"Her name is Misako."

He briefly looked panicked, then twitched and turned blank. "I don't think I know her."

"I did not expect you to."

"What would be her motive?"

"That's the thing," I said, somewhat awkwardly. "It's more than likely that she does not have one."

"Then what makes you think she's behind this? Bringing people back from the dead is not exactly an easy thing to do, you know! It takes very strong magic and an incredible amount of power! Why would she go to all that trouble if she had no good reason?"

"She was probably bored."

Kuronue looked at me incredulously. "Bored?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "Misako is not the type to bother with reasons to stir up trouble. Every other time she did odd like this before, her only excuse was boredom. She is not exactly a perfect example of of mental stability, as Kurama put it. As Yusuke put it, she's crazy. What she lacks in sanity, however, she makes up for in power." I laughed. "I rather like her, myself. The Reikai does not share my opinion. The main problem is that her favorite amusements are not usually legal."

"I can identify with that last part," said Kuronue thoughtfully.

"My second guess would be Karasu coming back to life for no apparent reason, confusing everyone, then causing mischief, also for no apparent reason, confusing everyone again."

"Karasu?"

"Yes. Very strange man. Had a thing for Kurama's hair, and tried to kill him because he apparently had a major crush on him. I do believe, in fact, that Karasu succeeded in actually creeping him out. A lot. He also liked to make things explode."

"...Okay then..." Suddenly Kuronue tensed.

"What is it?"

"Four strong energies, approaching from the northeast."

"...And which way is northeast?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed. "That way."

"Oh. Hey, that's the way my friends went. It's probably them. So, what are you going to do?"

He frowned. "I don't know. It's kind of an awkward situation."

"That it is," I agreed. "About how far away are they?"

"I'd say about a hundred twenty meters."

"Mm." I nodded. "Well, I'm going to call out to them. Shall I alert them to your presence?"

He thought for a moment. "I don't know. Not yet."

I nodded again, then cupped my hands to my mouth. "Cover your ears. OI!"

"oi!" I heard Yusuke's voice, faint but clear. "that you, aya?"

"YES!"

"what the hell are you doing in the makai?"

"Oh, yeah... Eheheh." At Kuronue's questioning gaze, I explained. "They don't exactly know I'm here."

"Again?"

"well?" came Yusuke's voice again.

"SIGHTSEEING?" I suggested.

There was a short silence during which I smiled somewhat nervously. Then, "you had damn well come up with a better answer before we get over there!"

"Eheheh."

There was another pause, then, "kurama wants to know how you got here!"

"WHY ARE YOU THE ONLY ONE YELLING?"

"kuwabara ain't feeling too good, and seriously, can you picture mister dignified or mister antisocial yelling like this?"

"NO, NOT REALLY. I'LL EXPLAIN WHEN YOU GET HERE, LEST I ENDANGER MY VOICE."

"you've really been spending too much time around kurama if you're talking like that now!"

"I TALK THIS WAY IN ENGLISH, TOO, ONLY MORESO!"

"whatever. shorty's whining- ow! okay! not whining-that my voice is getting on his nerves, so we'll talk later!"

"GOOD! YOUR VOICE IS GETTING ON MY NERVES, AS WELL!"

"shut up and save your insults for later!"

"I DON'T KNOWI HAVE A LOT!"

"oh, shut up!"

I snickered, and Kuronue raised an eyebrow. "This is how you treat a guy who beat a mid B-class demon at fourteen as a human with practically no training?"

"Yeah."

"I see."

"That was actually two years ago. Now, he's basically a warlord. One of the three rulers of the Makai, in fact. Last time I checked, he was undefeated." I thought a moment. "That might have something to do with the fact that the last time I checked, he was alive. Actually," I added thoughtfully, "he DID die. Twice. But the first time, he was not supposed to die, and the second time, he turned demon. Woke up the Mazoku in him or something." I chuckled. "Quite an amazing group of people, the Reikai Tantei. But don't tell them I said that. I don't generally go around handing out compliments like candy. No, come to think of it, I give out compliments in the same way I give out candy: I don't. If I have candy, it's my candy, damnit."

Kuronue seemed amused by this. We stood like that for a while: me leaning against the tree, Kuronue standing about two meters to my right.

"They're probably pretty close by now," I said, more seriously, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye.

He nodded.

"They have probably noticed your presence."

He nodded again.

"Hiei-san will probably get here first." Kuronue seemed to be biting back a smile. "What?"

"You're right," said a voice above me.

"YAA!" I jumped nearly three feet in the air, my head luckily avoiding any branches. I looked up at Hiei, who stood on the very limb on which I had been resting earlier, and glared. "Damn it, Hiei, what did I say about sneaking up on me like that?"

"Hn." Hiei smirked. "It's your own fault for letting your guard down, especially in the Makai." His face then returned to its usual glower as he turned to Kuronue. "Who's this." It was more of a demand than a question.

"My fiancé," was my immediate and random reply.

"What?" exclaimed both demons at the same time.

"Ignore that. It popped out of nowhere."

At that moment, the remaining three walked into the clearing. Kuwabara was pretty much out of it as he slumped against a tree. Yusuke appeared cautious and curious, and to say that Kurama looked shocked would be an understatement.

"K... K..."

"I've never known you to stutter, Kitsune," commented Hiei.

"K... Kuronue?" Realization dawned on Hiei's face as he heard the name. This was Kurama's old friend and partner.

"Kurama? You certainly look different."

"Kuronue, is that really you?"

"The one and only."

He frowned. "I've been tricked before, and I have no intention of being tricked again. Show me proof."

Kuronue raised an eyebrow. "Proof? Well, I suppose I could remind you of that one incident, involving the duck, or that stupid brat, or that thing at the lake when you were drunk, or the thing with the fairy, or the time you dressed like a-"

"Okay, okay. I think that's enough convincing."

Kuronue smirked. "You just don't want me to tell them about-"

"Yes, you're Kuronue, all right."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "Kurama? Drunk?"

"Heh, yeah. You should've seen the sort of stuff he did. Like this one time, he was on the bar singing an opera he apparently wrote himself, right there on the spot. I don't know where the hell he learned Italian-" Here I thought vaguely that maybe I could translate the Doom Song into Italian, after all. "-but it wasn't half bad, really. And then that other time, he somehow got it in his head that he was a penguin-"

By the time Kurama had firmly clamped his hand over Kuronue's mouth, Yusuke and I were cracking up and Hiei was obviously having a hard time not laughing. "That is definitely enough convincing, Kuronue. And bear in mind," he added sneakily as he removed his hand, "that for everything you have on me, I have something on you. For example, I'm sure they would be quite amused if I told them about the various occasions when you experimented with cooking."

Kuronue's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"Care to test that theory?" Kuronue shut his mouth and shook his head. "I didn't think so."

I smiled to myself, happy about the reunion. That, and they seemed to have forgotten about...

"So, Aya," said Yusuke. "About, you know, you being here."

"Damn."

Kurama gave me a stern look while Kuronue just looked amused. I made a mental note that perhaps I should get used to that. "We told you not to follow us. It's dangerous- you know that."

"And that's why I do it. I get freaking bored, you know."

The kitsune sighed and massaged his temple. "How did you get here this time?"

"Same way you did. Hopped through the portal."

"You could see it?"

"No, but I kinda figured out where it was by the way you all just disappeared."

"What I wanna know," Kuronue cut in, "is why you couldn't tell she was there."

"Yes, we'd like to know, too," said Hiei, somewhat nastily. The four guys stared at me expectantly.

"What?" I whined.

Kurama's eyes bore through my skull as he spoke. "How is it that you keep slipping past our senses, Aya?"

"Yeah, we'd notice if you were special or something," stated Yusuke bluntly.

I sighed and shrugged. "It's just this thing. If I don't want to be found, I'm not. I mean, obviously I have to actively hide, as well, but... It's always been like that. I used to play hide and seek as a kid, you know. I'd always eventually stop willing myself to remain unseen after a while, just to make things interesting. Still do, in fact, if I'm hiding for whatever reasons and I start to get bored. Just one of those things, you know?" I shrugged again. "You know when you caught me? Last time? That was Kuronue's fault."

Yusuke pondered this. "You know, that could really come in handy."

Kurama sighed. "Yusuke, please..."

"She could be like a spy or something," he continued.

I grinned. "Cool. Sure thing, so long as it doesn't interrupt my sleep and playtime."

"I bet that could be arranged."

"No!" We both turned to Kurama, who was, again, massaging his temple. "No, Aya will not be a spy. We are not going to use Aya's sneaking skills to our advantage-"

"With training," Kuronue cut in, "we could probably make you into a decent thief."

"Kuronue, you're not helping..."

"Hey, yeah," agreed Yusuke, nodding. "But then I might have to hunt her down and throw her in jail or something."

"Would a simple human thief in the Ningenkai really be under the Reikai's jurisdiction?" I wondered aloud.

"No," answered an impish Kuronue.

"You've got a point there," said Yusuke, nodding again.

"We will not train Aya to be a thief!" exclaimed Kurama, clearly trying not to yell.

I giggled lightly and meandered over to him to place a not-very-reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Aw, don't worry, Kitsune. That would take work." With my other hand, I conspiratorially held a finger to my mouth. "As a spy, on the other hand, I could just hang out in dark corners and stuff, right? You know, lurk. I could do that, if they payed me well enough. Lurking is easy."

Yusuke grinned, giving me a thumbs-up. "That's the spirit!"

I felt Kurama's incredulous gaze. "Aya!"

I turned my head back to face him, wearing a smile so sweet it was obviously fake, and reeked of mischief. "Yeeeeeeesss, my dear kitsune?"

"You can't possibly be seriously considering this!"

"I don't know, Kitsune. If the pay's good, well... money is money." My eye twitched at his expression just before I started cracked up, half-supporting myself on his shoulder. "Oh, honestly, Kurama. You never struck me as the gullible type. You should've seen yourself. A real Kodak moment, I tell you."

He finally gave in to a groan. "Let's just go to Genkai's. Maybe she'll know what to do with Kuronue."

"Why, Kurama, I'm wounded," said Kuronue dramatically, holding his hand over his heart.

He just shook his head and took out the communicator to contact Botan, so that she could create a portal back to the Ningenkai. She worked quickly, and in no more than a minute and a half, she had one up and running, just waiting to take us to the old psychic's temple.

Yusuke flopped a near-unconscious Kuwabara over his shoulder, and we hopped into the pretty swirls and came out the other end at the bottom of the steps leading to the dojo. Exciting, ne?

We walked up the steps in semi-silence. It took a while. I was dead last to reach the top, panting exaggeratedly to make everyone feel so horrible that they refused to carry me. I don't think it worked, as they just rolled their eyes in near unison and continued forward. I stood up strait, as I really wasn't all that tired, and stuck my tongue out at the boys' retreating backs before noticing Hiei was not among them.

"Aya."

"YAH!" I shrieked and whirled around to see a short demon clad in black with a slight smirk on his face. Oh, there he is. Hi, Hiei. "Don't do that!"

He shrugged and walked past me, glancing back slightly. "Hurry up."

I then stuck my tongue out at _his_ retreating back.

"Stop that."

Oh, yeah. Third eye. Lovely. I sighed and followed him. At least he was keeping a reasonable pace. It occurred to me that he was doing so for me. How sweet!

"It is not sweet. Now hurry up."

Damnit.

At some point, he glanced over his shoulder, somehow smirking with his eyes. "I really don't know how Kurama can put up with you."

"He's very patient."

"One of these days, girl, he's going to snap. You're going to drive him over the edge."

I laughed. "That would certainly be amusing. Kurama, loosing his cool. Heh."

"It probably wouldn't be very amusing for you."

"Why not?"

"When Shuichi looses his cool, guess who takes over."

Oh. "Oh."

"When that happens, I plan to have a front row seat to watch him annoy you right back... in his own way."

"Specify."

"You're odd, and by nature, a kitsune is intrigued by odd things." I chose to ignore that he sort of called me a thing. "And when Youko Kurama's intrigued, he tends to get playful. You can probably figure it out from there."

I frowned slightly. "But what does he do when he's feeling playful?"

"Aside from stealing things? You'll just have to wait and see."

"Ergh." I knew he wasn't going to tell me any more than that. "Now I know, though, so now I'm not going to try it."

"A lie. Now you're intrigued, too. Sooner or later, whether it's consciously or not, your curiosity will get the better of you."

I sent him a halfhearted glare. "You did that on purpose."

"Bravo for figuring that out," he said sarcastically. "You're not the only one to seek amusement."

I sighed, relenting. "I'd do the same thing, in Hiei-san's position. Well, whenever it happens, if, and only if, it will, I hope Hiei-san has fun."

"Oh, I will. I'm sure it will prove to be interesting."

Then we reached the temple, where the others were waiting for us.

Wow, he timed that conversation perfectly, like he knew exactly how I would react. I internally scolded myself for being predictable, then decided to let the matter drop for the time being. I'd jump off that bridge when I came to it.

* * *

A/N: I am sad. And why am I sad, my dearest readers? I have gotten a grand total of nine reveiws for the last two chapters. By this point when I first posted this, I had around fifty. Are some of my dearest readers getting lazy? 

...I know I am. Wait, that implies that I wasn't lazy to begin with.

A huge thanks to everyone that did review! If you want an ego boost (those things are great, ne?), I could start listing everyone that reviewed the previous chapter, but rarely any responses because I am lazy.

Right, so. This is the last chapter that has ever been posted. The next is new! Except that I wrote it several months ago. I apologise for it in advance. Not only was the plotbunny about to knaw my leg off, but my muse kept shoving potentially hilarious scenes in my face. So, blame Adri and the chocolate-brown fanged bunny rabbit. He's a cutie.

Are my dearest readers curious now? Heh. You should be... you should be... (insert evil snickers here)


	8. Of Pinky Swears and Snoopy BandAids

Note: I sincerely doubt that Yuka will play any major roles in the future. She may show up from time to time when I need a named but disposable character, but that's probably it.

Another note: I'm really sorry. The plotbunny for the second part of this chapter was just too fun (and stubborn) to pass up, so please don't bite my head off. I was just in the right place at the right time... or vice versa.

One last note: Whenever I reread this chapter, I always read "fog" as "frog." Heheh.

Right, on with the fic. I'm sure you're now wondering what I'm talking about. If you aren't... start wondering. Now. That is an order.

* * *

Of Pinky Swears and Snoopy Band-Aids

Genkai was looking Kuronue up and down when I arrived. "Well, isn't this interesting. Seems people just don't know how to stay dead these days." She looked back to the three other boys, one of which was being healed by Yukina. "So he was resurrected? That's it?"

"That's all we know, yes," confirmed Kurama.

"Hm." She turned her attention to the approaching Hiei and I. "And who's this?"

"Ah! Genkai-sensei!" I bowed deeply, having great respect for the old psychic. "Pleasure to meet you! I am Aya."

"Hm," she said again, before addressing Yusuke. "See, this is the kind of respect I should be getting from you."

"Aw, shut up. She's not usually like this."

I cheerfully stuck my tongue out at him. "Nya nya, Yusuke-kun."

"Oh, 'nya' yourself."

I crossed my eyes in an attempt to look at myself. "Nya nya, Aya-chan."

He sweatdropped. "I didn't mean literally."

Kurama sighed. "Aya has a talent for getting people off track. Shouldn't we be focusing on Kuronue's resurrection?"

Genkai nodded. "Un. The kitsune is right."

Kuronue shrugged. "I'm not dead anymore. All in favor of leaving it at that, say 'aye.'"

"Aye," said four voices. _Wait, four?_ There was Kuronue himself, Yusuke, me... and Misako.

Everyone, barring Genkai, jumped. Yukina, having completed healing Kuwabara, smiled at her. "Misako-chan, when did you get here?"

"Oh, just a minute ago," she replied, waving a hand dismissively before proceeding to glomp Hiei. "Nee, Hi-chan's a fast one, but I have finally caught him with my infamous _surprise attack of doom!_"

"Grk," said Hiei.

I noticed Kuronue's left eye was twitching violently as he stuttered, "Mi... Mi..."

"Kuro-chan!" squealed Misako, releasing Hiei, and glomped Kuronue.

Several eyebrows were raised. "You said you didn't know her, Kuronue-kun," said I.

"Grk," said Kuronue.

"My sentiments exactly," said Hiei.

"Oh, Kuro-chan and I go back," explained Misako. "About ten years before I went into hibernation, I stalked him."

"But then you agreed to leave me alone for the rest of my life, so that I could block out my memories of you!"

"I did. You died."

"But that's not fair! Were you the one that brought me back to life, just so you could stalk me again?"

"No. But don't worry, my little bat!" Misako reassured the man about two feet taller than her. "I have a new target now. Hi-chan!" And so, Hiei was re-glomped.

"Great," said Hiei sarcastically.

"I feel for you. I really do."

"Hey," interjected Kuwabara, "are we gonna figure out how this happened, or what?"

"That's right!" exclaimed Yukina. "I'll go make some tea!" She hurried off to do so.

Genkai nodded and led the rest of us inside, pausing as we removed our shoes, to what seemed to be the main room with a low, square dining table in the center and nodded for us to seat ourselves.

Before I could sit, however, Misako caught my arm. "I think Aya-chan and I need some female bonding time! Is that okay with everyone?" Without waiting for an answer, she pulled me towards the back of the building and outside to a zen garden. "Better, better!" the small demon witch sang, as she plopped down to sit on the porch and motioned for me to do the same.

"Mm!" I cheerfully followed her example and rubbed my sore feet. "Better, indeed!"

She smiled, and we sat like that for a moment before she tapped my shoulder and gestured for me to lean over. "I want to tell you something. Promise to keep it a secret?"

"Sure. Pinky swear," I said, holding up my little finger.

Misako cocked her head to one side. "What's that?"

"It's for promises. We both get our little fingers like this, and do this, and then the promise can't be broken, not that I ever break promises, anyway." I was actually extremely strict about that.

"Okay, sounds good! Pinky swear!"

We linked fingers. "I promise to keep it a secret."

"Right," said Misako, once the ritual was complete, and whispered in my ear. "I was actually the one to bring Kuronue back."

"But you said you didn't."

"No, I said I didn't bring him back to life so that I could stalk him again."

"Then why did you bring him back?"

Her smile changed, and her face and voice suddenly ceased to radiate the usual brightness that I had become so accustomed to. "I've always liked Kuronue. Somehow, you reminded me of him a little, and I started to miss him. He was the first person that really caught me interest and held it for more than a year, all by himself. A guy like him shouldn't have died like that, and then Kurama resurfaced, well..." Her smile faded to almost nothing as her gaze grew distant. "I'd gotten to know Youko Kurama, too, since you couldn't catch one without the other nearby. The two were inseparable. When Kuronue died, I began to worry about Kurama, because they had been so close... He blamed himself and fell into a deep depression. He grew careless, and not before long, he got shot. And all I could do was watch from a distance."

Her eyes had lost their ever-present sparkle and her signature smile was completely gone. "Misako-chan..."

She shook her head and continued. "So when I found out Kurama was alive, though I could tell he had recovered, I didn't want him to have to live with that guilt... and I didn't want to, either. This is my first time messing with life and death and vice versa, and I don't plan to do it again because it's not right, but I couldn't help it, you know?"

I nodded slowly. "...Does Misako-chan need a hug?" She was silent for a moment, then nodded and allowed me to my arms around her small figure like a mother to a child. Female bonding, indeed.

"...Ano, excuse me..."

We both jumped and released each other, not embarrassed in the least, and turned to see Yukina standing behind us, holding a tray with three cups of steaming tea.

Misako frowned, but in a confused, curious way. Her eyes had recovered their youthful light. "Nee, how long has Yukina-chan been there?"

"...I came in just as Aya-chan started to explain the pinky swear... I came to give you your tea, but you were so deeply engaged..." She knelt, setting the tray on the floor between us, and bowed in apology. "I'm very sorry."

Misako smiled, back to her normal self. "Not a problem. Can you promise to keep it a secret, too?" She held out her little finger.

Yukina giggled and nodded, doing the same. "Okay. Pinky swear. I won't tell."

"And the pact is sealed." Misako picked up her tea. "Nee, Yukina-chan, stay and drink with us!"

She giggled again. "Okay."

We sat and sipped for a little while before something occurred to me. "Why do you want to keep it a secret?"

"Ah," said Misako, "that would be because it's fun to see them trying to figure out who did it when it was just me all along."

"Ah." We three giggled.

We drank and chatted about little things for a while. Kurama eventually found us.

"Oh, so that's where you've been," he said cordially, though he had probably been able to sense our energy (or at least mine) the whole time. "I hate to interrupt, but Aya, we're going to stay a while longer, so would you mind going home and telling Mother that I'll be out for a while longer and not to worry?"

"Will you be trying to figure out who did it?" inquired Misako slyly.

"...Yes..." He raised an eyebrow as the three of us giggled girlishly once more.

I cleared my throat, regaining my composure. "Right, sure, Kitsune-san. Yukina-chan, I don't know where the kitchen is, so would you mind if I left the cup here...?"

She nodded. "I'll take it back with the others."

"Thank you." With that, I set down my cup on the tray and left.

* * *

"Tell us the truth, Aya!" 

"Yeah, the truth!"

"The truth!"

I gave an exasperated sigh. "I _am_ telling the truth!" I hadn't gotten very far from the bottom of the steps to Genkai's temple before being ambushed by the fangirls as I was walking next to a less-supernatural section of the woods. "There is _nothing_ between us, there has never _been_ anything between us, and I doubt there ever _will be_ anything between us! We! Are! Just! Friends!" Unfortunately. Damn.

"That can't be all of it!" yelled one.

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, girls," I said, vaguely wondering where I had picked up that expression, "but it is. Get over it."

"Yeah, right!"

"Thank you for believing me." I brushed past them, only to be instantly re-surrounded.

"We know you're hiding some- Hey, what's with that fog?"

"Hmm?" My eyes followed the leader-girl's pointing finger, curious as to what had distracted the notoriously unwavering female. There was indeed a strange, silvery fog blanketing the woods beside us. It might not have seemed quite so odd if it hadn't come to a abrupt halt along the edge of the line of trees. "I don't know."

"It's pretty suspicious," commented the first year member. The other five of us nodded.

"Un. Let's go check it out," said another. So-called rivalry aside, we all wandered closer.

"Could be dangerous.

"Definitely not normal."

"Not at all."

"Un. Hey," said the apparent second-in-command, whose name I recalled to be Yuka, "I'm going in."

"That might not be a good idea," I said softly. They glanced at me, startled, having apparently forgotten my presence. "There are... a lot more dangers around here than you know, and I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Yuka shook her head. "If there's something dangerous or supernatural in there, then someone needs to find out about it and warn people."

I sighed, knowing that I would not be able to change her mind. "Yuka-san is braver than I originally gave her credit for, but please be cautious."

The other four seemed startled at my sudden, out-of-character statement, but Yuka just nodded. "I'll try." With that, she walked forward to be quickly swallowed in the eerie mist.

The leader looked at me and asked the question that probably plagued all their minds. "Why... why are you worried about Yuka-chan when we've given you nothing but trouble?"

I smiled slightly, still staring after Yuka. "Because I am a fool," I said simply and honestly.

"But-" She was interrupted by a scream that was suddenly cut off three seconds later. "Yuka!" she exclaimed, as the four started to rush to her rescue.

"No, wait!" I moved to block their path as the four began to rush into the forest for their friend. "I'll go. Stay here! The less people involved, the better."

"But she's our friend-!"

"Trust me on this one! You have no idea what Yuka-san has gotten herself into!"

A female voice trailed after me as I ran off into the woods. "And you do?"

"Yes!" I lied over my shoulder. "Just stay there until one of us returns!"

As I darted between the trees, I scowled myself for being heroic, while simultaneously arguing that this was simply the wisest course of action. _Not too wise for me, though._

I skidded to a halt as two figures came into view: Yuka and a tall man holding her captive. He was clearly inhuman. Two black, furry ears sat atop his head as an equally black cat tail swished predatorily behind him. His straight hair reached the top of his shoulders, and I found his yellow, slit-pupil feline eyes somewhat unnerving. I internally noted that he was probably a panther. Yuka just looked panicked, and for good reason, as the hand of said panther that wasn't covering her mouth held her by the throat, her feet barely touching the ground.

"Who are you?" I demanded quietly, dangerously calm.

He grinned evilly, showing his sharp incisors. "Ah, a friend coming to the rescue?"

"No, an acquaintance acting as damage control," I retorted without emotion. "You are not human, are you?"

"I'm not exactly hiding it."

"So I've noticed. Put the girl down. She knows nothing of youkai."

"Only if you take her place."

I felt my eyes narrow. "So be it."

He chuckled and dropped the wide-eyed Yuka, who promptly zipped over to me.

"You don't have to-" she started.

"Yes, I do," I interrupted. "Now listen, Yuka-san. The first thing you must do as you leave here is swear your friends to secrecy. Then, as soon as possible, and this is important, **find Shuichi and tell him what happened.** He should be at the temple. Understand?"

She bit her lip uncertainly. "What if he doesn't believe me?"

"Tell him I said that if he doesn't get his stupid kitsune ass on it immediately and I die or something, I'm so gonna haunt him till he goes crazy and attempts to gouge his own eyes out with a spoon, which would be a shame because he's got damn pretty eyes. Tell him that in those exact words."

"I can't say that!"

"Exactly. Which is why he'll know that I said it, not you. Got it?" She nodded numbly. "Good. Now go, and hurry." She nodded again before running off in the direction from which I had come.

I heard the panther's smooth, mocking voice as she left. "That was a long goodbye."

I turned around wordlessly and treated him to a mild glare. He chuckled and let it pass.

"Now, then," said the youkai, walking towards me, "down to business. From what I can tell, you fit the requirements nicely."

"What are these 'requirements', and what are they for?" I asked, standing my ground.

"I need a human: someone intelligent, clear-headed, and not immediately inclined to attack me."

"Now for the second part of the question."

"My experiment."

I didn't like the sound of that. "Specify."

He grinned evilly and grabbed my wrist before holding out his other hand in front of him, creating a swirling mass of color - a portal. "You, my dear, will soon be a demon yourself." My eyes widened involuntarily (a slip-up for which I immediately scolded myself) and he hopped through the portal, yanking me in after him.

We emerged in some sort of lab. It was a large, round room of metal, with computers, buttons, and other doohickeys lining the wall, except for about a fifth of it, which was occupied by a huge, empty TV screen in place of the metal plates that were apparently the new, stylish alternative to that boring old wallpaper.

Basically, it looked like a control room from _Star Wars_ or something. The unnamed demon led me to the center of the room (that would soon be appearing in an issue of _Better Homes and Gardens_ right after Misako's garden), stopping just outside a high, circular cage, about two meters in diameter. Then he picked up a syringe from a small, conveniently-placed metal counter. "I'll need a blood sample and have it analyzed before you undergo the transformation, so that the most appropriate form can be determined," he explained.

The color quickly drained from my face as I jerked my arm out of his grip. "No!" He gave me an odd look and I elaborated, "Irrational fear of needles."

The nameless youkai rolled his yellow eyes and grabbed my arm again. "Too bad."

I cringed, shut my eyes tight, and turned away, biting my lip. I barely held back a shiver as I felt his fingers gently probing for a vein.

"Pale skin," he muttered. "That makes things easier." There was a brief moment of pain, then, "There. Done. Honestly, what a stupid thing to be afraid of."

"Shut up," I cleverly retorted, applying pressure to the tiny prick to ease the even tinier flow of blood. As he began to walk away towards some random machine thing, I angrily exclaimed, "Oi, wait!"

He turned, an expression of vague annoyance and confusion on his face. "What?"

"Where's my Snoopy band-aid?" I glared at his incredulous stare. "You know, the Snoopy band-aid! You're supposed to give me one after using a syringe on me!" Why it was always Snoopy, I didn't know. Well, sometimes it was Winnie the Pooh.

He shook his head slowly and chose to ignore my little outburst. I fake-pouted (since I could actually care less) and watched boredly as he put my blood into some mechanical thingamabob before No-Name walked back over to me, a large, hinged metal bracelet-like thing in hand.

I cocked my head to one side like a puppy. "Whassat?"

The evil grin returned with his reply. "This lovely little device will keep you under my control once you're no longer human," he said, snapping the thing shut around my upper arm. He then pushed me into the person-cage and shut the door, smirking in satisfaction.

"Oh. Is it? Okay."

If he was at all startled by my nonchalant reaction, he was even more surprised at the sudden sound of an alarm. "What...?" The unnamed panther rushed over to the giant TV monitor and rapidly started pressing buttons, causing several views from security cameras to pop up.

"Jeez, is this whole freaking place made of metal?" I wondered aloud.

He ignored me, staring in morbid astonishment as one of the images grew to fill the screen.

I stared, too. "Oh, hey. It's my buddies. That was quick."

No-Name whirled around to face me. "Why didn't you tell me you personally knew the Reikai Tantei?"

I shrugged. "Never asked."

The demon let out a strangled cry as another figure appeared on the screen. "_And_ Koenma!"

I blinked. "Actually, I haven't met Koenma-sama yet."

There was a ding. No-Name jumped, then smiled crazily, darted to the other side of the room, and pulled a lever, causing a cylindrical, glass-like wall to drop around my cage. I looked up as I heard a hiss to see some sort of gas filling the sealed chamber, while at the same time, Yusuke blasted open a trap door about five meters to my left and hopped into the room, closely followed by Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Koenma, in that order.

Mister Nameless faced them, but it was hard to make out his expression, due to the strange smoke gradually clouding my vision. "You're too late!"

"You-!" came Yusuke's voice.

I had a feeling I forgetting something.

"Yusuke, wait!" Kurama.

Oh, yeah.

"If you kill him now, she'll die! Thanks to the control device I described earlier, their lives are linked!" A new voice, Koenma.

There, now that that was taken care of...

"No!" Kuwabara.

"Damnit! You bastard!" Yusuke.

**_"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"_** No-Name.

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for her now." Koenma.

"..." Hiei.

"...The process seems to be complete." Kurama.

And indeed it was. Yusuke let out a long string of loud curses as the entire cage lifted.

My new, brown-black wolf ears flattened against my head. **"Shut up already!"** Well, my voice was the same. They obliged as the gas-stuff dissipated. I glared at the lot of them, flicking my tail as my ears moved back into their 'natural' position.

"Now," said the nameless youkai, whom I suspected to have completely lost it, "your first orders... how about... Kill the intruders!"

Koenma backed away and the other four reluctantly fell into defensive stances. I noticed that my clothes had changed, too - probably to accommodate the tail, or maybe it was like when Kurama goes Youko. You know those spiffy things Kurama wore during the Dark Tournament, with the pants, and the long tunic-y-ish thing that's really not very tunic-y? That's what I now wore, though mine was all black, with the exception of the dark red trim. _...Cool. _(Note that the outfit is special - not me. I obviously needed a change of clothes, so why not? And where does Kurama get his clothes, anyway?)

"Well?"

I glanced over to the demon without a name. "Well, what?"

"How about sometime today?"

"How about not?" I blandly held up the metal bracelet in my left hand, smirking. "Oh, this fashionable little piece? Hate to break it to ya, buddy, but one size does not fit all. This sort of thing happens when you're really freaking skinny. ...You look like a fish, stupid."

He was gaping at me. "But... but..."

"But nothing." I dashed over to him (_woah, fast_) and held him in the air by his neck. Not very far up, though, as he was taller than me. I grinned, showing off my new fangs and flicking my tail. "This is pretty cool, you know. I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a tail."

Kurama was the first to find his voice. "Aya," he said cautiously, walking towards me.

I smiled widely. "Yeeeesss?"

"Put him down."

I shrugged and dropped him. "Sure. I don't want him, anyway."

There was a universal sigh of relief, some louder than others. I could hear them all, thanks to my uber-spiffy demon hearing. Kurama bound the demon in his vines. I lazily clasped my hands behind my head, eyebrows raised as he began to walk towards me.

He stopped about a meter away. "Aya?"

"Mm hmm?"

"Have you... changed?"

"No, of course not," I said, thickly coating my words with amused sarcasm. "I've always had a tail and stuff. You've just never noticed until now."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, I know." I smiled reassuringly. "Nah. I'm still the same screwed-up female as always." I got a warm feeling in my chest as he returned the smile, relieved, but... "That is, if you ignore this crazy-strong urge to slaughter everything in sight. Weird, that."

Insert loud silence here.

**"...BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"** I collapsed on the cold floor in a heap of laughter. "Oh, God," I eventually managed to croak, "should've seen... should've seen... Oh, God, I wish I had a camera... priceless... Another Kodak moment for ya... Oh, God." I dissolved into a fit of giggles.

I felt four eyes glaring (Yusuke was laughing, too, Kuwabara just rolled his eyes, and Hiei wore a permanent glare, anyway) at me, so I coughed and stood up. "Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist. Yeah, I'm fine. I still wouldn't hurt a fly. Only changes are purely physical."

"Well, that's good to hear," said Koenma. "But you seem to have developed a twisted sense of humor."

The other four corrected him in unison. "She's always been like that."

I beamed proudly, then blinked, then bowed. "Ah! I forget myself. Nice to meet you in person, Koenma-sama."

"Nice to meet you, too, though I would have preferred it to be under better circumstances."

Now it was Yusuke's turn to blink. "Hey, wait a second! I just noticed something! I've saved the world several times over and you know it, but you've never treated me with an ounce of respect!"

"Hmm, you're right," I agreed thoughtfully, actually wondering why it had taken so long for him to notice. "Hmm... Urameshi-sama. ...NYAHAHAHA! Ah, I'm hurting my own ears here."

"Let's get down to business," said Koenma before Yusuke could yell at me.

I nodded, calming. "Yes, yes."

"Aya," he addressed. "You can't very well live in the human world as normal, and both the Reikai and the Makai are out of the question. Until further notice, you'll have to stay at Genkai's with Yukina and Kuronue."

I gave him a thumbs-up. "No problem-o, Koenma-sama. I was thinking the same thing."

Hiei finally said something. "I doubt Genkai will appreciate this."

"Yeah," agreed Yusuke. "Knowing Aya, she'll probably drive Grandma crazy."

Kurama sweatdropped. "I'm sure Genkai will get enough annoyance from Kuronue as it is."

Kuwabara, surprisingly, looked thoughtful. "Maybe Aya will distract him and they can bug each other, canceling both of 'em out."

I clapped while the others merely stared. "Great idea, Kuwabara-kun!"

"...That just might work," said the other four in unison. Synchronized statements, maybe?

"So, Aya," said Koenma, recovering from the shock of Kuwabara being smart, "I trust you have no objections?"

I beamed. "Nope, I'm fine with it!"

Koenma nodded. "Good. Let's go."

And the scene faded to black.

* * *

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" 

"Must conserve energy... must conserve energy... HAHAHAHAHA! Ha..."

"Never mind. I figured it out."

"Congratulations, Kuwabara."

"Hey, watch it, Shorty!"

"I _said_, let's _go_."

* * *

What will happen when they reach Genkai's? How will Genkai ever put up with both Aya and Kuronue? (Actually, she'll ignore them both.) Will Koenma find a cure? And what's this about Lord Fujimori's enchanted sword? Stay tuned to find out... 

"Aya? What are you doing?"

Quiet, Kurama! I'm setting the suspense here!

"...What?"

Ha, confused the kitsune. I mean, shut up already!

"Where are your quotation marks?"

"Damnit, Kitsune! Look what you did!"

"Ah, they're back."

"You're not even supposed to know about the quotation marks!"

"What quotation marks?"

"...Damnit!"

* * *

**03/28/05**: Minor revisions, changed the title, and an A/N. 

I guess I forgot to say that Aya WILL NOT STAY A DEMON. She'll turn back into a human in the begining chapter 10 at the latest.

I would also like to reinstate that there will be no romance between our "heroine" and Kurama, unless you count one-sided stuff from yours truly. Argh, it really is taking a lot of self-control to keep it that way. It's all Kurama's fault, you know. He just _had_ to go and be damn sexy... ahem. Yeah.

By the way, I love you all. Air hug time!

* * *


	9. Peas in a Pod

Pitiless Peas in a Pod

* * *

"(Straight through the portal and up the stairs, to Genkai's place we go!)" 

Yusuke groaned as we trudged up the steps for the second time that day. "Another song? Jeez, Koenma, couldn't you have put us a little closer?"

The demigod massaged his temples. "I'm sorry, but there was only one portal leading to that demon's laboratory. Speaking of which, Kurama, do you still have him?"

"Yes. Aya, please stop singing that song."

"Okay." There was a universal sigh of relief, which spawned a grin from yours truly. I was getting to them... and running out of songs. _Let's see... Oh, yeah! How could I forget that one?_ "(If... you're happy and you know, it clap your hands!)" Clap, clap.

Another groan elicited from Yusuke. "Why oh why did he just have to go and pick Aya, of all people?"

The panther demon giggled. "Appropriate form! Spoon! Intelligent, clear headed! Made of metal! My experiment! Acting as damage! Fit requirements! Snoopy band-aids!" He was alternating between his quotes and mine.

"Apparently," said Kurama, sorting through this because he's just so gosh-darned smart, "when she saved that girl, Yuka-san, she kept a clear head. He noticed this, and her intelligence, and decided she fit the requirements. The wolf is probably the most appropriate form for her, though I can't imagine why. The rest seems to be nonsense."

Oh, thanks. "(-then your face will surely show it-)"

Kuwabara glanced at me. "I don't think she's made of metal."

"I don't think she's any of those things!" yelled Yusuke. Good, he still hadn't noticed the facade.

Not that I was actually acting, of course. "(-shout 'Yatta!' Yatta! If you're happy and you know it, shout 'Yatta!' Yatta!)"

Yusuke was beginning to snap. **_"Aya!_** For the love of all that is sacred, **_shut up!"_**

"(-will surely show it-)" I halted my singing suddenly. "Why would I want sacred love?"

**_"Argh!"_**

Before Yusuke could pull out his hair, Kuwabara decided to point something out to him. "Ano, Urameshi? She's stopped."

"..." Yusuke glared at him, then at me, then at a tree.

My maniacal grin faded to a soft smile as I half-jogged up behind him to timidly tap him on the shoulder. "Nee, Yusuke-kun?"

"What?" he grumbled irritably.

"I'm sorry."

"...What?" He turned to face me with a bewildered expression.

I gave a small, brief bow. "I've been a royal pain in the ass, and it was fun, but I'm sorry. It has been a long day," I looked back to the others, "for all of you."

"Yeah, hasn't it been a long day for you, too?" asked Kuwabara.

"Yeah, but I was enjoying myself."

"How could you have been enjoying yourself?"

"Well, much of it was forced enjoyment."

"Forced?"

"Yup. It can be done. I could entertain myself with a brick wall for at least ten minutes if I put my mind to it." This was the truth. I had done so before.

"Woah."

"It's not that special. I just decided at a young age to keep some of that young age with me forever, and part of that is being easily amused." I visibly switched back into a playful mood before anyone could make a big deal out of simple retained childishness. "You know, since I've got these spiffy powers now, I'm gonna try something."

And try something I did. Without any more warning than that, I leapt into a bounding gait up the steps we had just reached. My hair blew wildly behind me as I laughed at nothing, feeling the wind washing over my body. The crisp stream of air was as water; rapids, engulfing me in its near-violent flow of cold exhilaration. The world rushed around me in blurs of green, brown, and gray while the brilliant blue sky remained a constant over my head. My worries, my stresses, my anxieties - they hadn't left me, but somehow felt unimportant. All that mattered was ground under my feet, the wind in my hair, and the surrounding streaks of scenery. All that mattered was to **_run_**. This was life. I knew then I'd never be able to find the right words for this simple, pure joy.

However, as the clichéd expression states, all good things must come to an end. I came to a halt in front of the huge dojo and closed my eyes, hanging on to that bliss. Alas, I couldn't make it last. My eyes slowly opened to see Hiei silently standing before me, as he had gone ahead of the others to inform Genkai of our arrival.

Hiei... was smiling. At me. And I was smiling back.

The small smile of mutual understanding on his face instantly vanished and my own quickly turned into one of my normal grins as Yusuke and Kurama appeared just behind me. "You could've warned us," said Yusuke, in fake annoyance.

"I did."

"The hell?" came a different and familiar voice.

I turned to see a confounded bat demon and raised a hand in greeting. "Yo."

"The hell?"

"More like the Makai," corrected Yusuke.

"The hell?"

I nudged Kurama with my elbow. "How long you think he's gonna keep saying that?"

He sighed in reply before addressing his old partner and friend. "Kuronue, naked women at two o'clock."

"Where?" He snapped out of his daze and whirled around to look. "I don't see any- hey." Realization dawned on him and he turned back to glare at Kurama. "You tricked me."

Kurama just sighed again. "Works every time."

Hiei snorted. "Pathetic."

"Hey, don't- what?" Again, he interrupted himself, this time to stare at me. "What the hell?'

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Here we go again."

"I'm a demon," I explained bluntly.

"I can see that much," he said. "But why are you a demon?"

"Oh, I've always been a demon," I said casually, giving the other three a pointed glance. "I've only just now revealed myself. See, I'm actually an ancient youkai, though some worship me as a god, protector of nature in general, and wolves in particular. Humans have been exploiting the earth since they learned to stand, so I was appointed guardian. Once every thousand years, I revert to my true form, the one you see now, and avenge the earth. I am the bringer of what those silly little mortals call the apocalypse. I slept in, so I'm a bit late, but no worries. Mankind shall suffer nonetheless."

Kuronue was gaping at me, as were the other three, though for different reasons. The bat opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking, "...Really?"

I nodded. "Yup. Oh, and look, 'gullible' is written in the clouds."

"It is?" He looked up. "It's not- Now _you_ tricked me!" I was now on the receiving end of the Batglare™.

I shook my head in disbelief and looked to Kurama. "Has he always been like that?"

"I'm afraid so. You're going to use that to your advantage, aren't you?"

"Why, Kurama! How dare you question my motives? Here I thought you knew me!" I indignantly placed a hand over my heart. "Of course I am!"

"I'm right here, you know!" yelled Kuronue, ignoring Yusuke's shameless snickers.

"No, you're not."

"Ha, ha. You're a right comedian."

I snapped my fingers. "Oh, darn. I thought I had him that time."

"What's all this noise? Can't an old woman get her sleep?"

I turned cheerfully to see Genkai in the doorway. "Ah! Sensei!" I bowed. "We meet again!"

Genkai scrutinized me, taking in my new look. "Today is just full of surprises."

"Quite," came the voice of Koenma. I turned again to him and Kuwabara coming towards us. "Kurama, you explain."

I quietly edged over to Yusuke and nudged him in the side with my elbow as Kurama obliged. "Why Kurama?"

"He's good at explaining things. That, and Koenma's a little out of breath."

"Oh. So he is." Maybe I shouldn't have rushed ahead like that... nah. It was funny, seeing him loose some of his composure. Not nearly as funny as the mental image of a drunk Youko Kurama standing on the bar counter and singing opera, though.

I snapped out of my daze and noticed that everyone except Kurama was giving me an odd look. "What?" Then it hit me. "Did I just start laughing for no apparent reason?"

"Yeah," said Kuwabara.

Kurama sighed. "She does that a lot. You get used to it after a while. Anyway," he said, wrapping up his explanation, "by the time we got there, the process had already started, and this guy was laughing maniacally."

"He had a nervous breakdown when they showed up on the security cameras," I added helpfully. "He seemed sane enough when he kidnapped me."

Someone suddenly started singing in mangled English. "(If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!)" Clap, clap. I reflexively clapped, as well.

Our gazes turned to the panther demon still wrapped in vines. Yusuke groaned for the third time this chapter. "Aya! Look what you did!" It was fruitless, however, because by then I was singing along, mangling my own English for the hell of it. Yusuke's groan count went up to four.

Halting in the song, I wandered over to the nameless demon and patted him on the head. "Good cat."

"_Not_ good cat! He turned you into a demon, remember?" Kuwabara pointed out, then muttered to himself, "Gee, never thought I'd say that..."

"Why, so he did." I flicked my ears and glanced back to view my new tail. "And it's pretty darn spiffy."

"I know the feeling," said Yusuke thoughtfully. "Human all your life, and then, _bam, _you're a demon. Kinda weird and kinda cool at the same time. Do you have that demon heartbeat thing going on?"

I checked my pulse. "Yup. Man."

"Of course," he added, "I didn't go all wolf-y, so the ears and tail would just add to the weirdness factor, huh?"

Kuronue sighed. "I've been a demon all my life—well, existence—and I've never gotten a tail."

"Yeah, but you've got wings, so it all evens out."

"What about me?" asked Yusuke. "I don't have wings _or_ a tail in my Toushin form."

I thought for a moment. "...The hair."

"My hair?"

I nodded. "Your Toushin form has a lot of it. Seriously, my first thought when I saw you was, 'Looks like someone had a little too much fun with the hair-growth formula, then stuck a fork in an electrical socket.'"

"Oh, thanks a lot. That's real comforting."

"What was your second thought?" wondered Kuronue.

"'He's missing a shoe.'"

"Oh, yeah, I was, wasn't I?" Yusuke recalled.

"Why?"

"I threw it at someone out of desperation."

Kuronue nodded wisely. "When you're all out of ideas, a good way to bide time is to throw your shoe. Not only will it distract your opponent, but it's pretty funny if it hits him in the head." Kurama groaned, but was ignored. "I usually wear boots, so it doesn't work for me, but it saved Youko Kurama once."

"Whoah, really?" implored Kuwabara incredulously.

"Yup. The great Youko Kurama, legendary thief, saved by a humble shoe thrown at a guard's face." He paused. "Actually, since it was _his_ shoe, it couldn't have all _that_ humble, because nothing about Youko is humble."

"Wouldn't it be in a shoe's nature to be humble, though?" I wondered. "I mean, people walk around in them all the time."

"Can a shoe have a nature?" asked Yusuke.

"If it can be humble, it can have a nature. It's all or nothing."

"That makes sense."

"But wouldn't it still-"

"You realize how ridiculous you sound?" commented a fourth party.

I did. "Hiei-san is right."

"We went from demon forms to the nature of shoes without a second thought," added Kuronue.

"Say, that somehow reminds me!" Yusuke exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Now I'm not the only one that was dead for a while and then wasn't anymore. I mean, Kurama didn't _exactly_ die, but this guy was seriously dead for at least seventeen years."

"Hey, yeah!" Kuronue agreed, snapping his fingers as well. "I _was_ dead for a while there, wasn't I?"

"We should make a club."

"Yeah, and we could call it the _Not Dead Club_."

"But a lot of people aren't dead. It'd have to be the _Not Dead **Anymore** Club_."

I considered that, even though I wouldn't be a member. "I think the _No Longer Dead Club_ has a nicer ring to it."

"It does," agreed the other two.

"This is a stupid conversation and we need to get back on track!" yelled Koenma.

Our attention turned to him as we noticed how derailed we had gotten. "(Right-o.)"

"Yes, so," started Koenma, slightly startled as how quickly we had quieted, "Genkai, until I find a cure, I was hoping you wouldn't mind housing another extra person."

Genkai grunted noncommittally. "Why my temple?"

"Because all the extra people stay here," stated Kuwabara, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, the rest of us nodding.

There was a sigh. "Fine, fine. Maybe she can keep this idiot occupied," she said, casually gesturing to the aforementioned winged 'idiot', who promptly pouted.

"Can we go now?" asked Hiei.

"Yes, yes, fine." The Tantei disappeared quickly with Koenma's permission as he and Genkai began to discuss the details of my stay, Kuronue and I standing off to the side.

"Ah, they're talking about boring stuff," said Kuronue. "Wanna go somewhere else?"

"Sure. How about the kitchen?"

"You read my mind."

"Yup."

Kuronue started to lead me away, but stopped. "Wait, you didn't really read my mind, did you?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," I said, feigning slight surprise. "Didn't I tell you I can read minds?" The wide-eyed bat demon shook his head. "Oh. Well, I can. And Kuronue-kun should be ashamed of himself."

He stared, then put his hands on his head worriedly. "Hey, stay out of my head!"

"Okay, but on one condition," I negotiated. Kuronue nodded in grim acceptance. "You have to take me to the kitchen."

He sighed in relief and began to walk away, bidding me to follow. "Seriously, though. Don't do that, okay? I don't want anyone to see what's in my head."

"Sure. It's not like I really want to look at that stuff, anyway," I said, then smirked at his shiver and slipped my shoes off as we went inside.

_And we're walking, we're walking, we're walking... _(A cookie to whoever caught that reference.) _Ah, we've stopped walking. Must be the kitchen._

He turned to me before he slid the door open, completely serious. "Now, we are about to enter a sacred room."

I nodded sagely. "Right."

"We should have a moment of prayer first."

"To who?"

"...The god of food."

"What kind of food?"

"...Rice. Pray to Inari."

"Right."

"What do I say?"

"Whatever you want, damnit!"

"Okay." _Um. Rice is good. So are foxes. Kurama's a fox. Kurama is sexy, which is good. Kurama eats rice, which is also good. So sexy and rice are good. Wait, no, foxes and rice are good. If the fox is Kurama, then you get sexy as an added bonus. Inari-sama, I am a complete loser._

"Right, that's enough. ...Aya? Why are you giggling?"

I ceased my giggling and regained my composure as Kuronue opened the door. "I was snickering evilly."

"Okay, why were you snickering evilly?"

"Oh, the purple zebras were just telling me about their plans for world domination."

Kuronue rolled his eyes. He was gullible, but not _that_ gullible. "Sure they were."

"It's all very brilliant, but they have to tackle this one problem before they can get started on the first country, Guam."

"And what's that?"

"No opposable thumbs."

"I can see how that could be a problem."

"Yes. ...Ah, Yukina-chan!"

"Hey, Yukina."

Sure enough, Yukina was there at the counter, preparing sushi. She turned around. "Kuronue-kun, hello. ...And Aya-chan? Is that you?"

"The one and only." A beat. "At least, I certainly hope the only."

"What happened?"

I shrugged. "Some panther guy turned me into a demon."

"Okay," she said, cheerfully returning to the sushi. "Oh, and dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes, so no snacks."

"No snacks?" I whined.

"No."

"How about a riceball?" suggested Kuronue.

"No. No snacks."

"Just one!"

"Well... okay," she yielded. "But only one each, and they have to be small."

"Yatta!"

"Thank you, mother," said Kuronue.

Yukina lightly whacked him on the arm with a paper fan, smiling. "I told you not to call me that."

"Sorry, mother."

She giggled at his obviously feigned innocence and shook her head slightly before again returning to the sushi. "Just don't spoil your appetite."

I giggled as well as I took a small handful of rice and began to form it into the right shape. "Nee, Yukina-chan? Why do you have a fan in here?"

"Well, it can get pretty hot in here if I'm cooking something," she explained, then leaned a bit closer to whisper, "But it's mostly to hit Kuronue-kun with."

"I heard that," said Kuronue. We giggled again and I could almost hear him rolling his eyes. "You two are such girls."

"Well, yes," said Yukina.

"I should certainly hope so, at least," said I, holding back a smirk at Kuronue's glance. "I mean, living all your life as a girl, and then, _bam,_ you're a guy. I really hope that's not the case. ...Oh, honestly, Kuronue, stop looking at me like that. I'm kidding."

"Uh huh," he said before he bit into his riceball, pretending to not entirely believe me. "And how can we be sure?"

"Well, I could tell you if Yukina-chan weren't in the room."

"Ah."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, Yukina-chan," I said, the very picture of innocence.

"Oh, by the way, Aya, about the spare rooms," said Kuronue suddenly. "I'm pretty sure _one_ of them doesn't have spiders, but I don't remember which."

I maturely stuck out my tongue.

* * *

Dinner and rest of the evening continued like that, Kuronue and I tossing cracks at each other with Yukina giggling and occasionally throwing in a comment of her own while Genkai did her best to ignore us. It was female bonding time! ...Except one was a guy. Eh.

* * *

"Aya!" 

I grunted.

"Get up!"

"What time is it?"

"About 8:00!"

"Mm." I rolled over on the futon. "Too early."

"Get up!" Kuronue slid the door open, treating me to the Batglare™.

"What are you, my personal alarm clock?"

"Yes! Now get up!"

I chucked my pillow at him. "_You_ get up."

"I _am_ up," he said, catching it.

"Hm. So you are." I lifted my head off the bare floor to look at him. "Hey, can you give me my pillow back?"

He rolled his eyes and tossed it at me before leaving, closing the door behind him. I made myself comfortable and went back to sleep.

* * *

"Aya!" 

I groaned and sat up. "What now?"

"Guess."

"No. Go away." I lay back down.

I heard him growl slightly as he half-stomped over to me and attempted to yank away my blanket. "Up!"

"No!" I whined childishly, hanging on as if the blanket were my lifeline, but he shook me off anyway. I landed hard on my rear. "Itai. Give it back."

"No. Get up."

I sighed and complied. "Fine, fine," I grumbled, standing and stretching. "Give my blanket back so I make up the futon." He handed it back to me and crossed his arms. "...Shoo. I also need to get dressed."

As soon as he was gone, I lay back down and went back to sleep.

* * *

"Hey, wait a second!" The door slid open once more, and a bat demon stalked over to me. "You slept in your clothes! You don't need to get dressed!" 

I whined extra-loudly as he ripped my blanket from me and stood up to try to get it back. He held it above my head, causing me to stand on my toes to try to get get it, but he was freakishly tall, so it was to no avail. "No!"

"Oh, come on."

Wait... I blinked, then sniffed. "Bacon!" I darted past him and allowed my nose to lead me to the kitchen, where Yukina was cooking. "Baconbaconbaconbaconbacon!" I exclaimed, hopping up and down behind her like a hyperactive chipmunk on Christmas morning. Even as a human, I could smell bacon from two houses over.

She turned around. "Oh! Good morning, Aya-chan!"

"Whenbaconready?Whenbaconready?Whenbaconready?Baconbaconbaconbaconbacon!"

"It should be about ten minutes."

"Aw!" I trudged into the main room, where Kuronue now sat, and plopped down on the floor, sighing dejectedly. "No ready yet... Hmph." I leaned on the table and rested my head on my shoulders, pouting. Then I began to drift back into sleep.

"I don't believe this..."

* * *

I woke up, again, but this time with a start. "Bacon!" 

"I really don't believe this..."

Ignoring Kuronue, I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a plate, served myself a generous helping or three of bacon and eggs, ran back to the table, and wolfed down my breakfast, pun unintended. This all took about three minutes. I sighed and leaned back on my arms, satiated, then addressed a certain bat demon: "Kuronue, go put my plate in the kitchen."

He sweatdropped. "Why should I?"

"Because I asked nicely."

"No, you didn't."

"Okay, put my plate in the kitchen _please_."

"No!"

"Man."

Yukina appeared. "I'll take it for you," she said.

I shook my head in protest and stood up to do so myself. "No, no, I'll do it."

Kuronue crossed his arms. "You tell me to do something, and then when Yukina comes along and offers, you refuse."

"Well, I can't just take advantage of Yukina," I stated, walking away.

Kuronue's voice followed me into the kitchen. "Oh, but it's okay to take advantage of me?"

"Yup." In my mind's eye, I could see him rolling his eyes as he walked away. Washing my plate, I suddenly thought of something:

_So what's up with Tums, anyway?_

I set the now-clean plate on the counter and drifted into my own little world.

_They're for indigestion. They flavor them so that they won't taste bad, but instead of tasting good, it makes them just taste odd. Say, Tums. I wonder if the word "tummy" has anything to do with that? Take Tums For Your Tummy. I like that. It should be their slogan. Maybe it is. What is their slogan, anyway? "Slogan" backwards spells "nagols" but that doesn't mean anything except for "slogan" backwards. Hey, Logan! I love that guy. Logan is my buddy. I'm sad that X-Men: Evolution is over. Hey, they could make their own alphabet thing for small people. Alphabet-thing-making-people always use "xylophone" for X, but those crazy folks over at Marvel could use Xavier! It is Marvel, right? Kind of like dust mites, except not. Actually, they-_

"It's Aya, right?"

"**Yaah!**" My thoughts were interrupted by behind me at about waist-height. I collected myself and turned around. "Ah, Genkai-sensei. Hello. Yes, that's right."

"Thought so. You're not used to being a demon, are you?"

"Demon?" I looked down at my tail and twitched my ears. "Oh, yeah. Forgot about that, actually."

"Is that a no, then?"

"Yes. I mean no. I mean, yes, that's a no."

"Hm. Well, unless you want your new, cheap, artificial powers to go haywire on your ass, I suggest you learn to use them," she said.

"How do I do that? I don't even know what they are, aside from the basic boosted agility and strength."

Genkai grunted. "Come," she ordered, and, without further ado, walked away, obviously assuming I would follow. I did, and she led me to a large room I figured to be the dojo. "Sit." I sat, half expecting her to say "stay" next. She didn't, instead choosing to sit opposite me. Her eyes were closed, but I still felt as if she were staring at me.

I fidgeted uncomfortably. "So."

Her eyes opened. "Hold your hands, out palm-up." I blinked and complied. "Now focus your energy into a sphere. It might help if you close your eyes." I nodded, closing my eyes and, again, complying.

This was not new to me. I concentrated, feeling my spirit as it flowed through my body. I mentally pulled it all to my chest, then out to my cupped hands. Before, I had always felt that I couldn't manage to gather the energy I felt in myself, and that there was so much hidden deep within me that I could never get at. This time, though the process was the same, the energy felt different, not to mention stronger. It was also more accessible, and I cautiously opened my eyes to see a swirling ball of silver.

"White? How interesting," said Genkai. "That's not very common."

"White? How boring," said I. "I like green much better."

Genkai ignored my shallow comment. "White spirit energy indicates a strong connection with one's spiritual self," she elaborated. "You seem to have done this before, you know."

I was still staring at my ki. "I have. But this time it was easier. And stronger. And visible."

She nodded. "That would be one of the differences between reiki and youki. As a demon, you are more in tune with your own power. Youkai almost never have white spirit energy, though."

I shrugged. "I'm not really a youkai."

"True enough."

"Can I put it away now?"

"Put it...? Oh. Yeah." I reabsorbed my brand-spanking-new youki and Genkai stood. "I got a good look at it. You're not at all inclined towards fighting, another odd thing for a youkai. This is certainly interesting," she said, now talking more to herself than me. "This experiment seems to have transformed your ki as well as your physical body, but the nature of your ki remained the same."

I cocked my head on my head, probably looking more like a confused puppy than ever before. "What about when Yusuke was demon-ified?"

"He had demonic personality traits to begin with. More than the average human, actually. But the closest things to demonic traits in you are mischief and occasional sadism."

"Sounds right to me."

"Which leads me to wonder," she continued, "why the experiment didn't fail. It must be some technology and genius we're dealing with here. I'd like to talk to that panther, but he seems to be... incapacitated."

"That he is, that he is. But why did I take the form of a wolf?"

"Hm? Oh." The old psychic returned her attention to me. "Probably your playful and expressive nature combined with devout loyalty. There's something else, too – some sort of general wolfishness – but I can't put my finger on it."

"Mm." I knew what she was talking about, though it wouldn't be mentioned further in this fanfiction. Then I again wondered at my thought. It's not like this was a fanfiction, of course...

"In any case," said Genkai, "your best bet is probably healing. Go talk to Yukina. I've got things to do."

"Goodbye," I said, watching as she rather unceremoniously walked away. Now to find Yukina.

* * *

I found her, and for the next couple hours, she trained me in the art of spirit healing. (If you all really care that much about it, say so in a review and I'll write it, but I somehow doubt you do. I don't.)

* * *

"Alright, that's all for today," said Yukina. "You're learning very well." 

I shrugged. "I don't really see the point if I'm not going to be a demon for very long, anyway."

She beamed at me. Then again, the little koorime usually was. "Oh, don't worry about that. Humans can heal, too, if they're trained; just not as effectively."

Kuronue appeared. "Hello, ladies!"

"Hello!"

"Yo. What up."

Kuronue briefly raised an eyebrow at my choice of greetings and shrugged it off. "Kurama's here. Says he has something for Aya."

My eyes lit up. "Is it candy?"

"See for yourself. He's in the main room." With that, he walked away again.

"I'll make tea!" exclaimed Yukina, and hurried off to do so.

I sweatdropped. _What is with that girl and tea? Oh, yeah! Possible candy!_ I skipped (yes, skipped) to the main room, where Kurama was indeed talking to Kuronue.

Or, rather, Kuronue was talking to him. "-I swear, the girl sleeps like a log."

"Logs don't sleep," pointed out the redhead.

"Oh, shut up. I see your pedantry hasn't changed any. Seriously, though, I even tried dragging her out of bed, and even _that_ didn't work. But you know what? The minute she smelled bacon, she shot up and into the kitchen like a bullet. _I_ couldn't get her up, but _bacon_ could."

Kurama nodded. "The smell of food always does." Kuronue snickered.

I glared, then pointed in a random direction and announced my presence: "Look, Kuronue, naked women."

"What?" He turned to look. "...Hey!"

"Ha, ha."

"Hey, at least I don't have an irrational fear of spiders."

"What are you afraid of, anyway?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Needles," said Kurama.

We both shuddered and said in unison, "Don't say that word!"

"Oh, are you afraid of needles, too, Aya?"

"Don't say it!" we both shouted.

"Don't say what?"

"The word!"

"Needle?"

"_Don't say it!_"

"Why don't you want me to say-"

"_Don't!_"

"-needle?"

We shuddered violently again and I glared. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He smirked. "Yup. Needle."

The Batglare™ was added to my own. "Do you _want_ me to tell her about Lord Fujimori's enchanted sword?"

Kurama blushed slightly. "Hey, you were just as- ah... -as I was."

"Yeah, but I don't care, see."

I glanced back and forth between them. "What?"

Kuronue smirked. "Well, we were-"

"Okay, I'll stop!" said Kurama, holding his hands up in surrender.

I frowned. "But what about Lord Fujimori's enchanted sword?"

"Sorry, Aya," the bat explained, "but I need that for blackmail material."

"Hmph. Well, okay." A thought struck me. "Or was that an invitation to get it from you the hard way?"

"The hard-?" Kuronue paled considerably. "No! Stay out of my head! No mind-reading!"

Kurama gave me that look that I was getting used to. "Did you tell him-?"

"Hey, he walked right into it," I said defensively.

"You mean..." Kuronue's brow furrowed. "Aya can't read minds?"

"No."

"Yes."

Kuronue crossed his arms. "Prove it. What am I thinking right now?"

"Hmm." I pretended to concentrate. "Kuronue-kun is thinking... that maybe I can't read minds, after all."

Kurama shook his head at Kuronue's panicked expression. "That didn't count. Kuronue, think of something completely random." He nodded.

"...Kuronue-kun is now humming a song in his head."

"_Oh my God!_"

"Kuronue, she's not psychic."

"Sure?"

"Yes. Aya, how did you-?"

I shrugged. "It's what I would have thought of."

"Peas in a pod..." he muttered.

"Hey!" I put my hands on my hips indignantly. "Did you just call us peas? Did he just call us peas?"

"I think he did," Kuronue replied darkly.

"Well!"

"We are offended, Kurama."

"Offended and insulted."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Shut up. We're teaming up on the fox here."

"Right. We are offended and insulted." Kurama just sighed and massaged his templed. "Hey," mock-whispered Kuronue, poking me in the shoulder, "I think we're getting to him."

I poked him back in the side, since it was much closer than his shoulder. "Yeah. How long do you think 'till he snaps?"

"Don't know."

"I can hear you two perfectly well, you know," stated Kurama.

"...He says he can hear us," I mock-whispered.

"He might be lying."

"What if he isn't?"

"...Then we'll have to kill him." We both turned are heads slowly to look at the annoyed fox.

He groaned. "Will you two shut up already?"

"Hai." I straightened up and saluted.

Kuronue mimicked me. "Hai, koibito."

_"Don't call me that!"_ We snickered at his blush.

"But what about all the fun times we had?" Kurama growled slightly in embarrassed frustration, putting a hand over his face. Kuronue smiled 'sweetly.' "Aw, is koibito being shy?"

"Nee," I said, curiosity piqued, "did you really-? Were you really-?"

"No!" yelled Kurama. Yes, yelled.

Kuronue put a finger to his lips and winked at me. "That'll just be our little secret."

"Ah." I smiled 'knowingly' before noticing a flash of gold in Kurama's green eyes. Whoops. "Ne, Kuronue-kun, we should probably lay off before he goes crazy." Or before he goes Youko.

"And attempts to gouge his own eyes out with a spoon, which would be a shame, because he's got damn pretty eyes?"

"Yup."

"Were those really your exact words?"

"Yup."

Yukina's voice suddenly rang from the doorway. "The tea is ready!"

I suppressed a sigh of relief as we seated ourselves. Good old interruptions. Now for a change of subject. "Nee, Kitsune, Kuronue said you have something to give me. Is it candy?"

"Even better." He pulled my backpack out from... somewhere... (I don't know.) "I brought you your homework assignments for today."

My face fell. "Oh. Joy," I said sarcastically.

"I knew you'd be thrilled."

"Ecstatic."

Suddenly, Botan flew in. Somehow. I scowled. "What's with all the crappy scene changes?"

Two men and one oar-wielding woman stared at me. "What are you talking about?"

"...I have no idea."

The ferry girl shrugged it off and spoke. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"What is it?" asked Kuronue, who obviously didn't care at all.

"The demon we brought in has yet to recover from his insanity. If it's permanent, we may never find a way to turn Aya back."

"Oh, shucky-darn," I said, snapping my fingers.

"This is a very serious matter, Aya!" scolded Botan.

"I know, I know," I said, holding my hands up. "Look, could I talk to him?"

She blinked. "I suppose... He's relatively harmless right now. I'll ask Koenma-sama." Botan pulled out her Reikai Walkie-Talkie, as I called it. "Koenma-sama, may I bring him down here?" The Return of the Static. "Right." She closed it and nodded to us. "I'll be right back."

We all sat there for a moment, twiddling our thumbs. Well, I twiddled my thumbs, anyway.

She flew back in, this time toting Panther Guy.

I nodded. "Okay, let me talk to him."

Botan nodded and set him on the floor in front of the table across from me. His head was tilted limply to one side, wearing a dopey grin and blank eyes.

"You know, you never did give me that Snoopy band-aid."

He muttered to himself.

"You owe me exactly one Snoopy band-aid," I informed him.

His words were barely understandable. "No owe."

"Yes, you do."

"Owe nothing."

"Ya-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"I want my Snoopy band-aid."

"No owe. No have."

"I think you do. I think you're hiding them from me."

"Huh-uh."

"Give me my Snoopy band-aid."

"..."

"Give it to me! Now!"

"Can't!"

"Why not?"

"Don't have."

"I can't hear you!"

"_Don't have one!_"

"You're lying to me, I know you are!"

"I'm not lying!"

"Yes you are! Give me my Snoopy band-aid!"

"**_I don't have your damn Snoopy band-aid! Leave me alone!_**"

There was a pause.

"...Whoah. I don't know if I should be mad or grateful."

"Be grateful. And that'll be ¥2000 for my services." He shot me a dark look to which I smiled, waving a hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry. I'll accept an IOU."

The other three shook their heads disbelievingly. "How did you know that would work?" asked Kurama.

I shrugged. "I didn't." Sweatdrop all around.

"Well, anyway," said Botan, "we need to know how to turn Aya back into a human."

Panther Guy blinked. "Turn her back?"

"You mean you don't know how?"

"Why should I? I wasn't planning on turning her _back_." At Botan's glare, he amended, "But it should be quite easy, with the right Makai plants. Just have to brew it right." He then went on to explain what exactly was needed and how to go about brewing them. After about five minutes, he concluded, "See? Very simple."

Botan, Kuronue and I stared at him with dot-eyes as Kurama nodded. "Yes. I'll go out and get them right now," he said, standing up.

"Right!" said Botan, recovering from the long and complicated explanation mostly compiled of apparent gibberish. "I'll go collect the other boys for his interrogation."

"I have to be interrogated?"

"Of course," she said. He sighed, and Botan turned to Kuronue. "I trust you can keep him under control?"

"Sure."

"Hey," I protested, "what about me? I'm a demon now. Can't I keep him under control, too?"

She sweatdropped. "Oh, right. You too, Aya. Just make sure he doesn't get away, and be wary of any attacks."

"You make me sound like a feral dog or something," said the decidedly feline demon. "It's rather demeaning."

He was ignored.

* * *

So, Kuronue, and Panther Guy, and Yukina (forgot she was there, did you?) and I sat there sipping tea for a while. It wasn't very interesting. Kuronue scratched his nose. I inspected my tail. Panther Guy's ears twitched. Yukina was cheerful. You get the idea.

* * *

Eventually, the ingredients were gathered (as were Yusuke, Kuwabara, and somehow Hiei) and the potion was brewed. Panther Guy was about to hand me the vial of oddly odorless liquid, but hesitated. "You don't care if you're in extreme pain, right?" 

I sweatdropped. "Of course I care."

He sighed and addressed Kurama. "I assume you know the basic Kuzuitairi potion?"

"Of course. I actually have some on me right now." He removed a small vial from... somewhere...

Kuwabara nudged Kuronue in the side. "Oi, you know him best. Where does he keep all that stuff? There's no way he could fit it all in his hair," he whispered.

Kuronue shrugged and whispered back, "Beats me, and I've been wondering for at least three hundred years. I have a theory that there's some sort of dimensional pocket in his hair."

My eavesdropping was interrupted as Kurama handed me both vials. "The estimated time for the reversing potion to work is about 45 minutes, but we'll give you an hour's dosage of the painkiller to be safe. Take this one first." He handed it to me. "The Kuzuitairi potion is extremely efficient, but will put the user into a dreamlike state while in effect. That's why it's not used extensively in the Makai, as relatively safe situations such as this don't come up very often. That, and it smells bad. In any case, you won't remember anything afterwards, and we'll interrogate while you're... incapacitated," he concluded, handing me the other vial.

Like the first, I downed the foul-smelling gunk in one gulp, blinked a couple times, and promptly started giggling uncontrollably. Then everything went foggy.

* * *

.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the wait. If you're wondering how Aya has developed such an intelligent manner of speaking in a foreign language, consider who she lives with. Also, I didn't make up the aura thing. That's what tickle-dot-com said mine was. And yes, I have done that before – I just won't bore you with the details. 

A reviewer pointed out two things that I guess I didn't explain very well.

1. "Realistic Fiction means you aren't allowed to pull a gas mask out of your pocket. It wouldn't fit in the pocket in the first place, and you never mentioned packing it."

A: It's not a gas mask – it's a face mask, the kind the Japanese wear when they get a cold, in order to prevent spreading it. Aya had it on her because she tends to carry a lot of random stuff around with her.

2. "If Hiei's picking up Aya's random thoughts, what happened to her mental shield?"

A: It's not a very good mental shield, and Aya's surface thoughts are rather loud. And he's Hiei.

Right, moving on. Pairings? Hmm. I've already established the severe lack of romance between myself and Kurama, though it's not easy. God, that man is sexy.

Yusuke and Keiko are canon, so they're a couple. Seeing as it's both canon and cute, though the latter is debatable, there might be some Kuwabara/Yukina, but if there is, it won't be anything excessive or out of the ordinary.

There will probably be a couple tiny hints of Hiei/Kurama, mostly in the way of me teasing them, and Kuronue likes to imply that there was something going on between him and Kurama before he died, though he is vague and could be just implying nonsense to tease the hell out of Kurama. I honestly don't know which. My version of Kuro-kun is either straight or bi, and he won't tell me which.

Hiei all but fears Misako, and I don't blame him. Panther Guy won't even get a name, let alone a romantic interest. Mikado (he'll show up next chapter) won't be around much, and anyway, he's taken, though his boyfriend won't show up. (All I know about Mikado's boyfriend is that he's a little shorter than Shuichi-Kurama, has shag-style platinum-blond hair, and is really sweet. Even so, I love him almost as much as I love the Twins of Mi.)

It's safe to assume the ones I've left out won't be happening.

Hiei and Kurama's actual sexual persuasions won't really be called into play, but you might be wondering what my view is. In regards to Hiei, I have no clue. For all I know, he could be neither. Kurama strikes me as bi.

Yeah, the bat is my newest muse. He lives in my head and has pretty much taken over Adri's job. She's my main muse, and has been for at least three years, but has always been downright negligent. Kuronue gives me story ideas, helps me out with fight scenes, makes random and/or amusing comments, laughs at inappropriate times, and sings the occasional annoying song. He also bugs me to write, so you can thank him for updates. He's much more helpful than any of my other muses have been. Maybe he'll stick around, like Adri, except not ignoring me. That'd be nice. He sucks at poetry, though.

I'd like some public opinion on the Twins of Mi and Panther Guy as original characters. Thanks in advance, duckies.

**05/05/05**

A/N: Jeez, these author's notes are getting long. Sorry about that. Anyway, I might as well address some reviewer concerns while I'm thinking about it.

Panther Guy very deliberately does not have a name. In fact, whenever he tries to introduce himself, he's interrupted.

Yes, he _is_a plot device, I guess. He was actually invented in a dream(astric) I had; the very one which inspired the whole "Aya-getting-turned-into-a-demon" thing. As I wrote the last chapter, I grew to love him, so I decided to keep him around as a semi-background character, like Misako, and a part-time subplot device. His stereotypical-ness is as deliberate as his chronic lack of a name, but I'll try to deepen his personality as we go along. He's such a fun character to play around with.

Also, the so-dubbed Panther Guy _does_ have a motive. It's not a very good motive, but it suits his character, which, I suppose, has yet to be very defined. His motive (of sorts) actually introduces a plot(double astric), which not even Nee-chan (AKA Robyn, my sister and unnofficial beta) knows yet. It fills in some other would-be plotholes, but I won't say which unless they're pointed out. I've seen a couple other fics toting the concept around, but only ever in a very lighthearted manner; not fully explained or explored, and not used to creat some of that good old-fasioned tension and drama. I intend to use it to its full potential, but you all don't even know what it is, and won't for some time yet, seeing as it's all pretty mysterious.

(astric): The second part of the last chapter follows the dream pretty closely.

(double astric): I don't think she even knows it exists. I should call her up and tell her I have a plot, and then not tell her what it is. I'm so mean. I'll have to catch her in between classes, though. Them crazy college kids.


	10. Double, Double, Twins and Trouble

Double, Double, Twins And Trouble

* * *

_I stared in horror at the figure before me. _But... it can't be... can it? What set him off? And what happened to...? _I shook my head. It was just too... no._

_"How nice to see you again," he said, almost mockingly._

Shut up._ I felt my fists clench as I turned my face to the floor, eyes shut tightly. _Maybe I'll wake up and this will all be a dream. It's got to be a dream.

_"This is real, sweetheart."

* * *

_

My eyes flew open, and I blinked a couple times. _What an odd dream._

I paused, going over those words in my head._  
_

_Ugh, what a clichéd thought._ I sat up and looked around to see Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, Botan, Genkai, Yukina, Kuronue, and Panther Guy. "Hello," I said vaguely as I regained my bearings. _Ah, yes. The reverse-y thing and the Ku-something potion. Mm._ I felt my head for wolf ears, but instead found my normal human ears. "Guess it worked, huh. Why are you looking at me like that?" Hiei's expression was unreadable but undeniably odd as he looked away wordlessly, while Yusuke and Kuwabara snickered and Botan looked a bit flustered. Kuronue smirked in a way that gave me the impression that he was suppressing a laugh. Kurama was smirking slightly, as well, which was somewhat unnerving.

Genkai just rolled her eyes. "That painkiller had some interesting side effects."

That didn't sound good. "Like what? Did I grow an extra nose or something?" I felt my face to find only one nose. What a disappointment.

"It effects the user's behavior," said Panther Guy boredly.

Uh-oh. "...What did I do?"

"Oh, not much," said Yusuke, wearing that annoying I-know-something-you-don't-know expression.

I looked to Yukina. She would give me a straight answer, right? She giggled. "Aya-chan said some very strange, funny things."

Oh, dear. "Like what?" I repeated. There was a brief silence.

Kurama broke it with, "So... I'm sexy, am I?"

I blinked a couple times as that registered before falling backwards, eyes closed and arms spread-eagle. "Oh, hell." Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kuronue burst into laughter. "What... what all did I say?"

"As Yusuke said," answered Kurama, "not much. Just what you think about us."

"Oh, hell."

"You also said Yusuke-kun, Hiei-san, and Kuronue-kun were hot," continued Yukina. "But I don't know what you meant. They aren't any warmer than usual."

"Oh, hell."

Kuwabara stopped laughing. "Didn't say anything about me, though. Why's that?"

Silence.

"So, the interrogation!" said Botan loudly.

I sent her a look of gratitude and sat up. "Oh, yeah. What'd you get out of him?"

"I'm right here," said Panther Guy irritatedly. He was ignored.

Kurama's smirk had vanished. _Thank you, Inari!_ "Someone put him up to it, but other than that, he won't talk."

The large cat growled. "What do you mean, I won't talk? I don't know! He didn't give me his name! I didn't even see him! He just came to me and asked if I wanted to try the experiment, offered his funding, and I agreed! End of story!"

"What would you get in return?" I asked.

He blinked. "I just said. He'd fund the whole thing. Any self-respecting demon scientist would have jumped at an opportunity like that."

"But _why?_ What was your _motive?_" pressed Kurama.

"Motive? I need to have a motive?"

"_Yes!_" exclaimed several people at once.

He shrugged. "I mainly wanted to see if I could."

"That's _it?_" asked Kuronue incredulously as the same several people facefaulted.

"Um, yeah."

"Well," said Botan, "he _is_ a scientist. They're allowed to be weird like that."

"I take offense at that."

"Hey, what's you name, anyway?" I inquired suddenly.

"What?" He looked at me. "It's-"

"Botan!" Everyone except Genkai jumped as Koenma popped into the room. "You need to bring that demon back to Reikai immediately!"

"Oh! Right, sir!" The ferry girl bowed as he popped back out. She dragged the still-nameless demon onto her newly-materialized oar and flew off before anyone could protest.

Everyone just stood/sat there for a moment.

"Well," said Kurama, "I should probably get back home before Mother gets suspicious. You, too, Aya."

I sighed and rose... and... we... went back home. Yay. _Time for another brilliant scene change. Wait, what?

* * *

_

About an hour after we got back found me on the couch with Shuichi, watching Inuyasha.

"I love Kouga," I stated, as the wolf demon kicked the anime's namesake in the head.

Shuichi snorted. "How? He's so annoying."

"Maybe, but he's still awesome." The doorbell rang, but we ignored it, hearing Shiori hurry to answer it.

"You've got some odd taste in men, then."

I shook my head and sighed. "I guess Shuichi-chan is just too young to appreciate-"

"_Stop calling me that!_"

I was about to taunt him further when Kurama walked into the room. "The police are at the door, you know."

Quarrel forgotten, the two of us shot up and to the door, with Kurama walking at a much more dignified pace behind us. Shuichi and I poked our heads around a corner just in time to hear, "...suspect of a recent theft."

I turned my head to gaze mock-accusingly at a certain legendary thief, who held up his hands in defense. "Hey, don't look at me like that. You know I didn't do anything..."

("...totally freaked when they saw the vid. It was pretty funny, actually...")

"Uh-huh. Sure. Just watch them start questioning you."

("...don't need to tell her that, Ken...")

"You mean hear?"

("Well, sor-ry.")

"Shut up."

"Aya-san," interrupted Shiori's voice, "could you come here?"

I blinked. "Eh? Okay," I said, trotting out to stand slightly behind her.

The two policemen glanced at each other and nodded. "She's definitely the one."

I blinked. "One what?"

"But Aya wouldn't steal anything!" exclaimed Shiori.

"Steal? What?"

"I'm afraid she matches the girl on the security camera perfectly, ma'am."

"We gotta take her down to the station. You know, for questioning and stuff."

"Huh?"

I was too confused to resist as they put me in handcuffs and gently pulled me outside and into the back of a police car. Before we drove away, I glanced back to see three equally confused figures standing in the doorway. I looked forward at the two men and said the first thing that came to mind.

"What the hell?"

* * *

I plopped down onto a relatively clean spot of floor in my cell. 

"So," came a familiar voice, causing me to jump. Kurama moved gracefully and dramatically out of shadows to stand just in front of the cell.

I blinked. "Kitsune? They don't let anyone back here. How did you-?" He raised an eyebrow. "Never mind."

"I take it you don't know what they're talking about?"

"Not a clue. I don't even know what it is that I stole."

"Hm," was all he said in reply before the two cops from before entered.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" demanded Cop #1.

"We put her there, remember?" said Cop #2.

"Not her! Him!" He gestured to Kurama.

"I talked to the chief. He let me back here," he said smoothly, though I was fairly sure he was lying.

"But he never-" started the other. Kurama's eyes flashed. "...Right. Okay. Just don't cause any trouble." It was my turn to raise and eyebrow at him, to which he just smirked and shrugged. He _was_ Kurama, after all.

"Hey," I said somewhat suddenly, "what did I steal?"

Cop #1 scowled. "You know very well what you stole."

"Humor me."

He rolled his eyes. "You broke into a highly-guarded government facility and stole a uranium power core."

Kurama raised an eyebrow while I sported an open-mouthed gape. "I stole _what?_"

"A uranium power core, apparently," said Kurama.

"Gah!" I stopped concealing my frustration and yelled, "What the _hell_ would I want with a uranium power core?"

"You tell us," said Cop #2.

"I'd love to, except I don't know! I didn't steal a damn thing! Hell, I couldn't break into, well, anywhere, even if I tried, let alone a government facility!"

"May we see the security tapes?" asked Kurama.

They looked at each other for a moment and shrugged. "I don't see why not," said Cop #2. "I'll go get it. Genosuke, you keep an eye on these two."

"I was going to anyway," mumbled Genosuke as his parter left. There was a brief silence.

"So," I said, "your name is Genosuke?" A nod. "Nice to meet you, Genosuke-san." I bowed.

He shuffled his feet and bowed. "Uh, nice to meet you."

"So." I paused, then gave him the most innocent smile I could muster. "May I call you Geno-kun?"

"No."

"Oh." I feigned a look of great disappointment before smiling again. "Do you have a wife?"

"Yes."

"Is she pretty?"

He was giving me a pretty odd look by now. "I think she's beautiful."

"Aw, that's sweet. Any kids?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Just one."

"How old?"

"He'll be three in August."

"Is he cute?"

"When he's not throwing a temper tantrum."

I nodded. There was another brief silence. "I'm going to be a teacher someday, you know," I said.

"Is that so?"

"It is so. I want to be a high school English teacher. Back in America, that is. And I'll drive all my students crazy by forcing proper grammar on them. But they'll love me anyway, because I'll be cool. And I won't make them do Powerpoint presentations if they don't want to. I strongly dislike Powerpoint presentations, you know."

"Mm."

"Once I get some experience as a teacher, I want to come back here and teach English. Maybe to grade-school students. I like kids. Kids are so cute and innocent and evil."

"Mm-what?"

"Aya," cut in Kurama, "stop talking this man's head off."

"Okay."

"Found it!" crowed the other cop as he walked in, waving a VHS in the air. "Sorry about the wait. I'm a bit disorganized."

"I'll say," muttered Genosuke.

I looked around. "How are we going to watch it with no TV?"

"Oh! The TV!" He hit himself in the forehead. "Completely forgot about that! I'll go get-"

"No!" exclaimed Genosuke. "I mean, no, I'll get it, Kenji-san." He walked away rather quickly.

"How nice," said Kenji.

"...So, your name is Kenji?" Kurama sighed and shook his head at my inquiry.

"Yup. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. May I call you Ken-san?"

"Sure."

"Yay! So," I asked, "where you from?"

"Okinawa," he said, smiling.

"Okinawa? Really? I thought I heard a bit of an accent."

"Yup. I was a cop there, too. Got transfered last month."

"How do you like it here?"

"Well, it was a bit quieter in the prefecture I used to work in, and there's more gang activity here. The kids from the Kasanegafuchi side of town do a lot of petty theft and stuff, but over at Sarayashiki they seem to have some sort of honor code. Except for that Urameshi kid."

I grinned laughingly. "Yusuke-kun doesn't count."

"You know him?"

"He's my video game sparring partner."

"Oh, hey! Are you that chick that beat his high score, and have been coming to the arcade with him ever since?"

"Yeah. Were you there?"

"Yeah, I was playing DDR. Off-duty, of course."

"Of course."

Geno-san pushed in the TV-on-wheels thing, like the kind they have at school. "Here," he said. "Kenji, put the tape in."

"Aye aye, Cap'n!" exclaimed Kenji, saluting, before doing as told.

I poked Kurama, who was standing right by the cell, in the shoulder. "What's 'Aye, aye, Cap'n' mean?"

He just shook his head and said nothing as the ever-familiar static came onto the screen before it was filled with blue. After a second, a soundless black-and-white image appeared. I watched as Genosuke fast-forwarded a bit, then gave the TV my full attention as a fuzzy-looking figure came onto the screen from the bottom-left corner. It was tall, with long, perceivably black hair in a high ponytail, and a leather jacket over a white t-shirt and jeans. He looked familiar somehow, but I didn't know anyone like that. He was soon followed by another, shorter figure, clearly a girl, with long, wavy dark hair, and wearing what seemed to be a long, black evening gown with those fancy-shmancy glove-things that go up just past the elbow. She gave an overall impression of elegant simplicity, or at least would have, if not for the slight halo of frizz around her head.

"Is that supposed to be me?" I asked. The two policemen nodded. "But that can't be me. I would never wear that."

She then turned around, and I looked into my own face. I stared indignantly as she turned back around and hurried off to follow the first figure as he strode off-screen. Genosuke rewound and paused at the moment she turned.

There was a brief moment of silence. Then, "_WHAAAAAAAAAAT?_"

"'What,' indeed," said Kurama.

"But...but," I stuttered, "I never dress like that. Ever. Never ever. I didn't do that. That's not me. That can't be me!" I pointed angrily at the TV, the other hand gripping a bar so tightly that my knuckles were white. "You! Girl! You stole my face! And my hair! And my body! Bitch! How dare you!" I collapsed onto my knees with a sound that resembled a sigh, absently removing my glasses and wiping them with my shirt. "Bitch," I repeated under my breath.

"Hmm," said Kurama.

"That was recorded at 2:30 yesterday," said Genosuke.

"2:30? Ah," said Kurama. "Would you mind giving us a moment to speak in private?"

"Sure thing," said Kenji. "C'mon, Geno-kun."

"Don't call me that," muttered Genosuke as Kenji dragged him out of the room containing the holding cells.

Kurama turned to me. "Yesterday afternoon, if you'll remember, you were in the Makai."

"Oh, yeah! Yes! An alibi!"

"It would be, if it were anywhere other than the Makai."

"...Shit."

"Never fear!" exclaimed a voice as its owner somehow came in through the barred window. "Misako is here!"

"Misako-chan!" I cheered. "Do you have an alibi for me?"

"Not exactly. Call your cop-buddies back in here, will you?"

"Oi, cop-buddies! You've been summoned!" They entered.

"How'd you get in here?" Genosuke was ignored.

"Hey! I remember you! You told us how to get that paisley graffiti off the wall using chocolate milk and a garden hose!"

"Hey, Kenji-kun!" They exchanged a high-five. "Anyway, look at what I found!" Misako pulled out a spiffy-looking metal rod-thing from... somewhere.

"The uranium power core!" exclaimed someone. "Where'd you get that?"

"That's a secret." The small, purple-clad girl put a finger to her lips as she handed it to a stunned Genosuke. "But you've got it back, so you don't need to hold Aya-chan here anymore, right? All is well!"

"But we have to apprehend the thieves!" sputtered Genosuke.

"Oh, and I also have this." She pulled out, again from... somewhere, a light brown, floppy-eared puppy with a thick, red ribbon around its neck.

"How cute!" exclaimed Kenji and I, though not quite in unison.

"Her name is Mika. She's a gift for Kenji-kun!" she explained as she handed the puppy to him. "You said you wanted a puppy."

"Really? Wow! Thanks!" He held Mika up to his face and laughed as she licked his cheek. Then he fished some keys out of his pocket with his free hand, unlocked the door to my cell, and let me out.

"But the thieves-!" yelled a frustrated Genosuke.

"Ah, we got it back, right? No harm done. Aya, you should go home quickly, or you might miss dinner."

"Can't have that. Thanks! Bye!" I said happily as I walked out, a bemused kitsune and cheerful demon witch following me. "Thanks, Misako!"

"Oh, you shouldn't thank me," said Misako as we headed towards Kurama's house. "You should thank my brother. He just arrived and is visiting for a week."

"Your brother?"

"Hiya!" came a voice similar to Misako's, but deeper. A short man wearing blue jeans and a dark, royal purple t-shirt dropped down from... somewhere... to walk beside us. He was about two-and-a-half inches taller than Misako, and wore his lavender hair in a three-inch ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"Meet Mikado, my twin!" Misako held her arms out in a Vanna White-like fashion, presenting her brother. "While I go around confusing and annoying people messing everybody up, Mikado-nii goes around and helps everyone!"

He nodded cheerfully. "Yup. When we were kids, my imouto-chan would play pranks—she still does—and I would clean up after her."

"Mikado-nii was born three minutes and forty-seven seconds before I was," Misako decided to clarify. "Nee, have you met Hi-chan yet?"

He nodded again. "Yup times two. Imouto-chan was right. He is a cutie! It really freaked him out when I told him so, though. I tried to tell him not to worry, 'cause I've already got a boyfriend, but that just seemed to freak him out even more. Maybe he's homophobic?"

"No," disagreed Misako, "I think he's just short-purple-people-phobic."

Mikado sighed. "Your doing, I presume?"

"Yup!"

"So," I cut in, "if we dressed Hiei-san in purple and died his hair and everything, would he be afraid of himself?"

Misako shrugged. "Probably."

"If not, Kuronue certainly would be," said Kurama with a sweatdrop.

"Ah! Kuro-chan!" Misako hit her palm with a small fist and grabbed her twin's hand, shaking it excitedly. "C'mon, Nii-chan, you have to meet Kuro-chan!"

"Isn't he that guy you were stalking some years ago?" I heard him inquire, just before they disappeared.

We stood there on the sidewalk for a moment. Then Kurama shook his head and continued, gesturing for me to follow. "We should really get back."

I nodded, absently walking after him. "Yeah..."

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the wait. My computer completely died, and it took a couple months to get my files back. Then I had summer school. Also sorry about the length. Yes, this is mostly filler, I know, but necessary filler. Trust me. And yes, Mikado is very, very gay. 

Nee, Kenji ga daisuke da yo! Yatta Kenji-kun! Wee, Kenji's great. I'm tempted to post a side-fic entitled, "A Day in the Life of Kenji the Cop." Because he's just that awesome. And he wasn't off-duty when he was playing DDR, by the way—he was in full uniform, in fact. He does a lot of stuff like that. The only reason they don't fire him is because he's actually a good cop, if perhaps only because the punks, delinquents, and criminals like him.

Kenji also gives good directions at the police box, even though he's usually playing on his Gameboy, usually Pokemon red version. His favorite Pokemon is Rattata—the first one he caught, not counting Squirtle. He takes Usachu (the Rattata) everywhere and is very close to him, and Kenji has not let him evolve. Usachu almost single-handedly defeated Misty on the third try. As of this chapter, Usachu is on level 54.

Please tell me about any quick-edit induced mistakes.


	11. Let Sleeping Foxes Lie

Let Sleeping Foxes Lie

* * *

_"What about your... other half?"_

_"Oh, him," he said casually, as if it were entirely unimportant. "We made a... a deal, if you will. I don't think he completely realized what he was getting into."_

_"But... I mean... where is he now?"_

_"I'm not entirely sure. I had to overpower him pretty completely in order to retain control for long enough to do what I need. You can probably guess how thorough I am. I figured it would not leave him unscathed when he came out again... assuming he came out at all."_

_I gulped. "So... does that mean... he could be...?"_

_He waved a handed carelessly. "Dead, yes, but not in the traditional sense, obviously."

* * *

_

I woke up in a cold sweat. I wasn't entirely sure what I had been dreaming, but whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant. Groaning slightly, I sat up and put a hand to my forehead. _Haven't had any nightmares for a long time now. But..._ I frowned, wracking my memory for what I had dreamed while under the effects of that Ku-something potion. _That wasn't exactly pleasant, either. But I almost never get nightmares. What could be bothering me so much?_ I mentally reached into my imagination, searching for something to grasp, even the tiniest fragments of the dream. I only came up with vague emotions, but it was enough to rule out the subject of most of my few nightmares. _Well, my 9th grade English teacher wasn't there, so that's not it. _What was really weird, though, was that I didn't recall consciously knowing I was dreaming. Usually, I would figure it out within the first few minutes of the dream, regardless of how real it seemed. But this...it didn't even seem real. I felt like it **was** real, except it shouldn't be. But it was. But it couldn't be. But it was anyway. But...

I groaned again and shook my head. _Now I'm just not making sense._ I absently glanced at my alarm clock (which I never bothered to set, as I would turn it off in my sleep anyway) and blinked a couple times at the glowing green numbers. 10:56. Then I shrieked.

_"Oh my god! School!"_

I shot out of bed and rapidly changed my clothes. As I was comically hopping out of my room on one bare foot, trying to get my sock on the other foot, I almost ran into Kurama.

I glared at him as best I could in my position. "Hmw hmwh hm mwmh mm hwm?" I blinked, then took the sock out of my mouth. I was about to repeat myself coherently when I realized a little too late that the hand I had used had previously been keeping me upright from its station on the door frame. So I said, quite clearly due to the lack of sock, "Gah!" and fell over backwards.

"It's Sunday," said Kurama.

I looked up at him, completely unembarrassed, before collapsing on my back, arms spread-eagle, much like I had a little after waking up from the first bizarre nightmare. Then I blinked. _That's right. The dream. _I sat up again, the pain in my posterior forgotten.

"Hello? Aya?" I blinked for the millionth time as I realized a crouching Kurama was waving a hand in front of my face.

"Huh?" I said intelligently.

"You were looking thoughtful. Are you okay?"

I nodded, not entirely sure if that was an insult or not, and we both stood. "Yeah, just a little half-asleep," I lied. "I'm awake now, though. Da," I added cheerfully, "breakfast time now!" Kurama wisely stepped aside and I half-ran down the stairs, stopping at the bottom as something occurred to me. I turned my head to call back up the steps, "Ne, Kitsune-san, where is everyone?"

"Out," was the ever-informative reply.

I snorted and continued into the kitchen. _What to eat...? Oh! I know! _"Toast!" I yelled out loud. I skipped over to the pantry, got out two pieces of wheat bread, skipped over to the toaster, and preformed the complicated ritual of placing the bread in the slots and pushing down the lever. I suddenly remembered something, and, not wanting to just sit there, ran back over to the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Kurama!" I yelled up them oh-so-politely.

I heard a door slip open and Kurama came into view. "What?"

"What do you put in a toaster?"

"Bread."

"Wrong! It's-" I stopped, then glared. "You messed it up!"

"Messed what up?"

"You were supposed to say 'toast'!"

"Why would you do that if it's already toasted?"

"Shut up!" He smirked down at me, letting me know that he knew exactly what I had been intending and was deliberately being annoying, and I turned on my heel and marched back to the kitchen. As soon as I reached the sacred toaster, my pout disappeared and I knelt in front of it "Okay," I said to myself, "I will not jump and shriek when the toast pops up. I am expecting it. It will not be a surprise of any kind and will therefor not startle me. I will not jump and shriek." I continued muttering, concentrating on the knowledge that the toast would, in fact, eventually pop up.

It popped up.

I jumped and shrieked.

This was just not my day.

* * *

It was now evening, and as I lounged on the couch in the living room, all I could think about was how utterly bored I was. 

It was all I could talk about, too. "I'm bored!" I whined loudly for the millionth time.

"Aya?" came Kurama's voice from an armchair, where he was trying to read. Keyword: trying.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up," he ordered calmly, causing me to snicker. I had just found something to do: annoy Kurama.

"Hey, Kitsune?"

"What?"

"Were you and Kuronue, like, you know..." I trailed off.

His eye twitched. "No."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really really?"

"Yes."

"Really really re-"

"Aya, shut **up**." I snickered again. There was a silence.

"Kurama?"

"_What?_"

"I'ma go to Genkai's temple."

"In the dark? Alone?"

"Yup."

He sighed. "Don't."

"Why not?" I asked in an annoyingly childish voice.

"You'll get kidnapped or something."

"Like by Misako?"

"No, not by Misako..."

"So Misako's not gonna kidnap me?"

"I doubt it."

"Oh. Well, I guess that means I can go, then."

"Aya." He slowly set his book down, his expression clearly stating that he had been reading the same sentence over and over again for the past fifteen minutes, and he was at the climax, and he was never going to finish the chapter, so he would never finish the book, so he'd never know how it ended, and it would torment him for the rest of time, and he would eventually end up gouging his eyes out with a spoon, and it would be _all my fault_. "Why do you want to go, anyway?" he said instead.

As per usual, I said the first thing that came to mind. "The blue pineapples. They fly." And, as per usual, the first thing that came to mind made absolutely no sense. So, I chose to also say the second thing that came to mind, this one making sense. "I was just thinking I'd take Kuronue up on his offer."

I could just barely hear a hint of nervousness as he asked, "What offer?"

"Oh, you know," I said casually, waving an hand. "He said maybe he could train me to be a halfway-decent Ningenkai thief. You were there."

He put his hand over his eyes and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Oh, Inari..." Hand still in place, he said more loudly, "Aya, Kuronue is not going to train you to be a thief."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"That's not a good enough reason."

"I don't care."

"What if you trained me instead?"

"No."

"Then I guess I'll have to get Kuronue." I smiled evilly, then stood up and strolled over to the door. "I'm going now," I sang over my shoulder. He said nothing. I looked forward again as I slowly turned the doorknob. "I'm turning the knob. The door is opening. I am stepping out the door..."

"Actually," came Kurama's voice, though it sounded oddly different.

I turned around, closing the door, as I didn't really want to go outside, anyway. "What?"

"Maybe I'll take you up on that."

I took a couple tentative steps towards him, confused. "What?" I couldn't see him, as the large, wingback chair was facing away from the door.

"The training..."

I moved so that I was standing a couple feet behind him. "Uh, Kitsune, I was kidding," I said, almost nervously. He slowly rose.

My eyes widened.

I could see him now.

He turned. "I know." Golden eyes flashed mischievously as they looked at me appraisingly. "You know," said a rather deeper voice, "I really should thank you. You've apparently annoyed Shuichi enough to let me out."

"You mean..." My brow furrowed. "I made him snap?" At his nod, my face split into a jubilant smile and I punched the air victoriously. "I did it! I finally did it! The calm, patient Minamino Shuichi has finally snapped! I am _just _that good! Oh, yeah!" I then caught sight of his smirk and froze, still smiling. "Oh, crap."

"Indeed," said Youko Kurama.

"Stupid Hiei," I mumbled under my breath. "Stupid manipulative little bastard... hope he's having fun..."

"Hiei?" Of course, Youko, with his superior hearing, still heard. He cocked his head slightly to one side, still smirking. "Did he warn you?"

"...No," I lied.

"You're a terrible lier."

"If I'd wanted your opinion, I'd have asked for it."

"You certainly got sour fast."

I glared, my fists clenched at my sides. "I'm a hormonal teenage girl! I'm allowed to have mood swings!" I shook my head, massaging my temple, and started for the stairs. "I... I'm going to bed," I said to no one in particular.

Youko, however, apparently had other plans, as he intercepted me. "It's only 8:30."

I stepped sideways to get around him. "That's night. Therefor I can sleep."

He moved in front of me again. "You said you were bored."

"I am. And I can amuse myself with my dreams." Another sidestep, this time in the other direction. Again, he moved in front of me, except... closer. Much closer. Too close for comfort. I stared up at him, fighting to remain calm and aloof.

He really wasn't helping with that, though. "How about you amuse me, instead?" he suggested in a low, soft voice.

_Sexyfoxsexyfoxsexyfoxsexyfox aaaaaaaah damnit! _"How about I don't?"

"You were perfectly content to use Shuichi as your entertainment, earlier. It would only be fair to return the favor."

"Life isn't fair. And don't stand so close to me."

"Why not?"

"You're making my neck hurt, you tall freak."

He smiled amusedly, shaking his head slowly, and backed away. "Very well."

I unconsciously let out a small sigh of relief and walked—rather quickly, I might add—upstairs and into my room, clicking the lock shut behind me. I didn't know why he had given up so easily, but hey, don't look the gift horse in the mouth, right? I retrieved my laptop from my desk and carried it over to my bed, then lay down on my stomach, opened it (the laptop, not my stomach), and turned it on.

I began to bring up the 'net and a fanfiction I had been meaning to finish reading since before I came to Japan, but stopped. Someone had just silently made his presence known just behind me and a little to one side. I turned, and even though I knew he was there, I jumped and proceeded to fall off the opposite side of the bed. Quickly recovering, I climbed back on and eyed him suspiciously. "How'd you get in here? I locked the- oh." It was the same raised eyebrow I had seen many times, but on Youko, it was many times more annoying. "Never mind. Just get out. This is kind of my room, you know."

He gave me yet another smirk. "But it's not your house."

I just managed to keep from snarling as I said, "Fine, stay. I don't care. I won't be doing anything interesting, anyway." I lay back down and began to read:

_Kagome didn't know what Naraku was planning, but it obviously wasn't anything that would be good news for-_

_Kagome didn't know what Naraku was planning, but it obviously wasn't anything that would be good news for herself and the others. Inuyasha, meanwhile, was still-_

_Inuyasha, meanwhile, was still hung up over Kikyo, and was almost completely-_

_-almost completely oblivious to everything else. At this, Kagome sighed. She would never measure up to the-_

_At this, Kagome sighed. She would never-_

_Kagome sighed. She-_

I threw my hands into the air and sat up, whipping my head around to glare at a certain fox. "Will you stop that?"

He smiled, about as innocently as, well, a legendary kitsune demon thief. "Stop what?"

"Damnit!"

"What goes around comes around," he said smoothly.

"Oh, bite me," I said, then noticed his raised eyebrow. "Not literally! Jeez! You know what?" I added, "I am going to finish this chapter! Tonight!"

"Such an ambitious goal."

"It is with you in the room," I mumbled.

Of course, Youko heard. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means nya," I replied, sticking out my tongue.

"Don't stick out your tongue unless you're going to use it."

The aforementioned appendage quickly reverted into my mouth. I glared at him, then turned back around and glared instead at the words staring back at me from my laptop, without actually reading them. Well, I was sort of reading them. _Ka...kagome... s... that's an 'i'... Kagome sigh...ed... she... she... she what? She... is Youko Kurama... _"**Gah!**"

"I wasn't going to say anything," said Kagome—no, Kurama, "but you're blushing, you know."

"I am not!" I insisted rather too quickly, with the sinking feeling that I was blushing even more. "Aya never blushes."

"She is now."

"It's hot in here! I'm hot! I get hot easily! I...I'm going to turn on the fan!" I said, very loudly. I got up noisily, stomped over to the fan on my cluttered desk, turned it on, stomped back to my bed, climbed on, sat down, and glared at my laptop once more, not once looking at the kitsune I just _knew_ was smirking at me. I could feel my eye twitching.

"Better?" inquired Youko 'sweetly'.

"**Get out!**" I screamed at him. He cringed slightly, shrugged, and, giving off the impression that it was completely his own idea, left. I heaved a great sigh of relief as got up and closed the door behind him. After a moment's thought, I pushed my bed in front of the door. _Good luck getting in without me noticing now_, I thought, snickering to myself. It was a short lived satisfaction, though.

"I see you've reorganized." I shrieked and whirled around to see... Yukina! No, it was Youko Kurama. "Isn't it a bit inconvenient, though? With the bed right in front of the door like that, I mean."

"How did you-" I started, then glanced at the now-open window. I gave a soft whimper, then closed my eyes and took a couple deep breaths. After a moment, I managed to say, "Thanks so much for opening the window. Very clever. Natural air-conditioning. Be a dear and turn off the fan for me, will you?" Two could play at this game, right?

Much to my surprise, the fan clicked off. I turned, to see none other than Hiei. "Don't waste energy," he said with his mouth, though he was clearly saying something completely different with his look.

"Ah, Hiei-san. So very nice to see you. I'd make tea, if not for the bed presently blocking my doorway. Kitsune-san is right. It _is_ quite inconvenient, isn't it? Ha ha."

He ignored me and turned to Kurama. "There's not much more you can do without going too far."

"Who says I'm afraid to go too far?" he replied suggestively.

"**Ha ha! Gosh, I'm thirsty! I'm going to get a drink of water! Ha ha! Ha!**" Remembering that the door opened _outward_, I opened it, stepped off my bed, fell down into the hall, laughed loudly, and noisily walked downstairs.

Without thinking too much, I mechanically went to the kitchen, stuck my head in the sink, and turned the faucet on. (No need to get a glass dirty, right? It's like a drinking fountain.) After a good, long drink, during which most of the water refreshingly dripped all over my face, I turned it off, started to rise, bumped my head hard on the faucet, said "Ow," and stood up, rubbing a forming bump on my cranium. I stood there for a moment. My immediate line of thought was as follows: _Guuuuuuuuuuh._

I shook my head to clear it of the tapioca pudding that had made it its new home and started up the stairs. _Que sera sera._

I hesitantly turned the nob and opened the door, bracing myself... to see only Hiei? I looked at him questioningly.

"I reminded him he'd want to see Kuronue," was his answer.

_I'll look the gift horse in the mouth if I damn well want to. _"Why do I doubt he'd give up that easily?"

"If you must know, he said he'd save it for another time."

"Lovely. Well, thanks, Hiei-san. I trust you found it amusing?"

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Very." And he was gone.

I sighed and wandered over to the window and closed it, then looked back at my room. _Well, time to move the bed back... and finish that fanfiction.

* * *

_

A/N: What can I say? Life's been hectic.

**11/25/05 **

Fixed a typo, yo.**  
**


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